Amazon & B&N All Romance – Author Kathi S Barton

Morgan Robinson Destruction Release Day & Giveaway

September 25, 2019 Kathi BartonLeave a comment

Anna didn’t know what to do with the man who acted like he was attached to
her hip. Every time she moved, just to get up and move to the bathroom,
he’d be right there with her, helping her into a panic attack. Not really,
but that was what it felt like to her.

Morgan wasn’t sure what he’d have to do to convince Anna that he wouldn’t
just up an leave her. She was a tiger too, and she knew they were mates
just as well as he did. But for some reason, he couldn’t get her to trust
him.

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A fresh start was what Rogan Hall needed. A small town, out of the way, where no one knew her or her brother was where they’d start over. She worked from home, and they kept to themselves. The only thing Rogan couldn’t give up was her early morning run.

Like clockwork, she ran every morning, and again, like clockwork, the same family would pass her on the country road heading to who knew where. The little boy in the back seat would wave at her with such enthusiasm, it made her heart melt. However, that morning, everything would change. Only moments after the car passed her and drove around the bend, she heard a loud commotion. Another car barreled past her, and she found the quaint family’s car overturned and on fire. Rogan did the only thing she could do, she saved them.

Thatcher Robinson was on duty at the hospital when his parents contacted him through their link and told him about the accident and what to expect when the ambulance arrived. Thatch, his dad, told him they had to save the woman by changing her, but her burns were severe, and his dad wasn’t sure that the new tiger would survive.

When Rogan regained consciousness, she was unsure where she was, but she knew she was different. She could feel the tiger move just beneath her skin. Rogan knew very little about shifters, but what she did know had her cringing. Why someone would take it upon themselves to change her, she didn’t know, but when the young doctor, Dawson, said his brother was her mate, she was furious. If the big, bad, Thatcher thought he was going to order her around, he had another thing coming….

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Anna didn’t know what to do with the man who acted like he was fucking attached to her hip. Every time she moved, just to get up and move to the bathroom, he’d be right there with her, helping her into a panic attack. Not really, but that was what it felt like to her. Finally having enough, she stopped and turned to look at him. “Don’t you have anything else that you can be doing? I don’t even care if you go outside and play with yourself. Just leave me alone.” He grinned at her. “You’re not all that charming if that is what you’re going for. I have crushed bigger bugs than you.” “What is it about me that has you on edge?” She asked him how long he had to listen to her answer. “Okay, that was mean, but I’m thinking that’s your normal way of talking to people. By the way, I’ve got you an extension on your classes you’re taking. I don’t want you to be missing out on anything while you’re here.” “What I’d really like to do is gather up my shit and get the hell out of town.” He told her that he’d be going with her. “I don’t want you around at all, much less you going with me someplace. Did you read over that report that I got from Rogen? It tells you all the reasons that you should be running from me. Not spending all your time here with me. I’m a grown assed woman, and I don’t need you here holding my hand.”

“I don’t think that I’d offer you my hand. You’d more than likely bite it off.” She growled at him. “I’m not sure if you feel the same way I do about me growling at you, but all it does when you do it is making me want to spread you out before me and lick every square inch of you.” “You’re not helping.” He nodded and sat down after helping her to the bed again. “Why are you here? Really? There isn’t any reason at all for you to be sitting around like a puppy with your tongue handing out.” “Your brother Noah, or I guess you call him Junior, is out of prison.” That nearly had her falling to the floor. Had Morgan not been there to catch her, she would have ended up spread out anyway, without anything at all sexual about it. “I’m here until we can figure out where he’s headed. Well, I say that like I have any idea what I’d have to do to find him. But Rogen is doing it. She’s also trying to figure out how he got released.” “I call him that because he absolutely hates being called Junior, now that he has a record. So, he’s been hating it since he was about seventeen, I guess. Was Junior released or did he escape?

Is that what you’re telling me?” Morgan said that was one of the things that Rogen was working on. “I guess I should have figured that he’d be out soon. I’d forgotten to keep up with his prison term. My father is who I’ve been the most worried about. Him and my brothers David and Bud.” “Junior has a watchdog on him right now. As soon as Rogen was made aware of Junior being released, she put someone on all three of them. Your father, he’s bitching about his health and that the jail is making him lose weight. He needs it, but that’s beside the point for him, I think. He needs to lose weight, but not because of anything that they’re doing. He’s eating himself into a stupor. I think Rogen said that he weighs nearly four hundred pounds now.”

Anna asked him how she’d know shit like that. “It’s her job to know all kinds of shit. And some shit that I don’t even question her about.” “She didn’t strike me as the type that would be a coffee girl to anyone.” Morgan laughed and said that she’d be the one demanding the coffee. If she drank it. “My father, does she think that he’ll be getting out anytime soon?” “She didn’t say, but I’d not count on it. Now that he’s on her fucking list—her words, not mine—he’s not going to fart unless she knows about it before he does. I didn’t ask her what that was supposed to mean. Rogen scares me in ways that I had to tell you about. She’s a real ball-buster. Much, I’m sure, as you are.” Anna told him that she wasn’t that, but someone that had been knocked around more than most. “I believe you. Rogen also pulled up your records for hospital visits, as well as other things.” “What does it matter anyway?” Morgan asked her what she meant. “You’ve already decided that I’m not mate material for you. Just look at you. You’re sitting here in a pair of jeans that cost more than I make at my job. Or the job that I did have. He told me that if I missed a single day, he’d fire me. Then there are your shoes. What did you pay for them? More than two hundred bucks, I’m sure.” “Not that I understand what the price of my clothing has to do with you not being mate material, but I’ll tell you. My parents bought me the jeans for Christmas last year. I’ve not had a chance to wear them as yet, because I’ve been working harder than I should have taken over another man’s classes at the college. Not to say that I didn’t enjoy them, but it was taking up a great deal of my time.

The shoes? I have no idea who gave them to me. I’m thinking that it was Jonas, as he and I have the same sized feet. But as they were still in the box and had the tags on them, I can only assume that he didn’t like the fit of them and gave them to me.” She looked away. “Don’t do that, Anna. Just let me explain some things to you. I have money. A good deal of it, as a matter of fact. I’m a dean at the college, and I’ve never been one to spend a great deal of money on anything unless I really need it. Even then it had better have several uses, as well as last me long enough that I feel I got my money’s worth.” “I don’t have shit.” He said that he knew that. “Rogen again, I’m assuming. Why is she so hot on finding out what there is to know about me? As I’ve mentioned to you before, I’m not mate material to you.” Before she could think that he was going to move, he was over her, his legs on either side of her own. His hands held hers above her head, and he was looking down at her with such hunger that the need to look away from him was overwhelming. But she couldn’t do it. “Every time I look at you, all I can think about is seeing you large with our child. I have no idea why that thought keeps occupying my mind, but it does. To imagine you naked in my arms, another thought that I keep having is almost more than I can take and still not touch you.” He put both her hands into his one larger one and brushed his hand over her cheek. “You feel as soft as you look. The kiss from yesterday only makes me want more of you. To taste all that you have to offer. However, I won’t take unless you consent. As for not being mate material, I can only hope that I’m a better mate to you than you think you will be for me.”

He got off her then, her body suddenly feeling bereft of his warmth. Without saying a word, he sat down in the chair he’d been in and watched her. Anna had never wanted to cry so badly in her life. Looking at him, she let the tears flow while she told him off. “You’re a big man, aren’t you? Did you think to scare me into submission? Well, it won’t work. I’m made of stronger shit than you are, buster, and if you try that again, they’ll be wiping up your body for the next twenty years or so.” He asked her if she felt better. “Better? Hell no, I don’t feel better. I fucking hurt. And I’m terrified that I’m going to fucking fall in love with you and you’ll leave me to the wolves, so to speak, when you’ve had your fill. I know nothing about you other than what you’ve deemed it necessary for me to know. But you know everything there is to know about me, including, I’m sure, how much money I owe on my rent, which is overdue, as well as my college loans.” He didn’t say anything as he sat there for a few minutes. But he did stand up and tell her that Rogen was coming to see her. As he went to the door, he paused for a moment and looked at her. She could see his anger, and wanted to shield herself from it. Instead, she lifted her chin up to show him that she didn’t care what he did to her. “Your student loans were paid off as of this morning. As my mate and with me being the dean at the college, they waived those from their books. I didn’t do that. Someone in the offices found out and did it for you. Rogen paid up your rent so that your place would be there should you’d rather live there than in the home that I have for us both. I had nothing to do with that either.” Anna started to tell him to not do anything for her. “I’m leaving now. Not because I want to, but because you’re upset and saying things that you might regret later, though I highly doubt it.” The door closed behind him and Anna laid there.

If she’d been able to get up and go after him, she would have. Anna didn’t like that he’d had the last word. Sitting up in the bed a little more, she looked around the room. It just occurred to her that she had a better room here than she did at home. Not to mention anytime she pulled the nurse call cord, someone was in there almost as soon as she put the handheld call thing down. “Hello.” She looked at Rogen and asked her what the hell she was doing there. “Still in a shitty mood, I see. Morgan asked me to come by and give you this.” The thick file was tossed in her lap. It might well have hurt, it was that heavy, but she’d been healing more every day. Picking it up, she asked Rogen what it was. Instead of telling her what was in it, Rogen told her to open it and read it. Opening the file cover, there was a picture of Morgan. She’d bet anything that it was his license picture. The man even took great license pictures. Anna would bet that anything he did, he’d be perfect at it. “You mentioned to him that you knew nothing about him. So he had me do a thorough check on him, then print it up and hand it over. Some of the things in there, I’m sure even he’s not aware of. Or, more than likely, doesn’t care about.” Anna laid it down. “You can read it or not. I could care less. But you pissed off one of the nicest men that I’ve ever known. I don’t know whether I should punch you in the face for it or congratulate you for getting under his skin. I’m leaning toward the punch just so you know.”

“Why?” Rogen asked her what she meant. “Why did he have you gather this up? I didn’t mean for him to give me a whole rundown on his life.” “Didn’t you? I don’t know you that well, mostly because you’ve been pushing us all away since the moment you opened your eyes. But you don’t strike me as being one that trusts easily. Nor do you seem to think you have much reason to say you’re sorry, or to thank someone. Am I right?” She nodded at Rogen. “Yeah, I thought so. In addition to having this all gathered for you, Morgan also had me add you to all his accounts. To put your name on the deed to his home, as well as the beneficiary line to his life insurance policy. Including the one that the university takes out on him.” “Again, why would he do that?” Rogen shrugged. “You know. Don’t give me that bull shit. You know everything there is to know about someone before you even allow them to breach that little bit of an opening you allow others into. You protect this family like you would a newborn child of yours.” “Thatcher is my husband. As of a few days ago, we became parents. No one knows that as yet. With you coming into the family, I wanted to make sure that my son, Jimmy, was safe. I’ve checked you out, and other than a jaywalking ticket that you had your first day on campus, you’ve been as clean as whistle.” Anna said that she knew that. “What you don’t know, or I’m assuming you don’t, is that you have a warrant out for your arrest. Your brother Junior has said that you injured him last night. While I know that it’s not possible, I’d like for you to tell me why he’d do such a stupid thing.” “Junior is a lazy fuck. If he’d have to look for me for whatever reason he has in his tiny mind, then it would take too much effort. This way he can have me found with little effort from himself, and he can get, what I’m assuming, is the money I may or may not have on me. But he’ll still take his pound of flesh while he’s at it.”

Rogen said that Anna had turned him in, and that had gotten him in prison this time. “I did. I’m not going to deny that to him or you. He was a jackass, and killed that man as surely as you’re breathing.” “The man that he killed. How much do you know about that?” Anna looked away. “I thought so. You were in love with him, Bart Hodges. He killed him over a dispute that you were going to marry him and Junior didn’t want that to happen. Why?” “Because, as sick as this sounds, he wanted me for himself. But I wasn’t in love with Bart so much as he was in love with me. He was, I guess you could call him, safe for me.” Rogen asked if what Junior wanted was sexual. “No. Just as his domestic. He wanted me under his rule so that I could work, bring home the bacon, cook it for him, then clean up after him. And as wonderful as that might sound, I didn’t want to spend my life taking care of my brothers and father.” ~*~ Morgan was grading tests when someone knocked on his door. Seeing his father there, he put down his pen and waited for him to yell at him. He hadn’t any idea what he’d done, but his father had worn that same look on his face when he was upset about disciplining them as children. Since Anna had been nearly raped just down the hall from him, he’d been keeping his door open most of the time. Today was the first day that he’d shut it to get some work done. And honestly, he wanted to hide from the world a little.

It helped that Professor Long was dead, but he did worry he’d be caught up in something. “Rogen said that your mate will be released today. Did you know that?” He said that he didn’t, that she’d kicked him out three days ago. “Yeah, that’s what I’d been told she’d done to you. What are you going to do about her living arrangements?” “Nothing. Why?” Dad said that he didn’t think her being out there alone was a good thing. “Well, I think she’s a good deal stronger than you think, and can take care of her brother with one hand tied behind her back. She sure didn’t have any trouble taking care of me.” “You let her,” Morgan asked him what that had to do with anything. “I don’t rightly know. But it’s not setting well for me with you just abandoning her.” “I didn’t. I have a guard on her at all times. There are as many as five wolf pack members with her every place she goes. The car that has been lent to her in the guise of Rogen letting her use hers has a tracker on it, as well as a panic button. That was Rogen, in the event you thought that I was smart enough to do that.” Dad said that he didn’t have any doubt that he could do whatever he set his mind to. “Thank you for that. But about Anna. She’s pissed off. And me being around her isn’t making her any less so.” “What happened between the two of you?” Morgan leaned back in his chair, not even sure what he could say to his dad about all this. “You have no idea, do you, son?” “No. I mean, I never have rushed her. But she has it in her head that I’m going to take over her life and then make her do things like her brothers did. Also, I’ve been, through Rogen, keeping an eye out for her brother that’s been released. She’s working on trying to figure out what happened at the prison to have gotten him out.

Junior’s name isn’t on any kind of record as having good behavior, nor did he get an early release. But he’s on his way here.” Dad asked him what he’d want. “Her. And it’s not what you’re thinking. I thought the same thing. But he wants her to be his housemaid. Cooking, cleaning, and anything else that needs to be done. Also, she’s to work so that he won’t have to. Nice family she has there.” “We’ve dealt with worse, I’m sorry to say. Rogen, she’s got a handle on all them boys too?” Morgan said that she was looking into different areas, that all of them had been in jail until recently when Junior got out. “That has anything to do with why she’s shoving you away?” “Yes. All of it, as a matter of fact. She has it in her head that she’s only a half breed, and not fit for me. Also, she has this insane thing about money, and how she doesn’t have any.” Dad told him that he could understand that. “I can too. But I don’t have to like it. I’m giving her space. For now. As soon as I get information from Rogen, I’m going to go and see her. I’m going to tell her everything that I know.” “Rogen, she told me that you had her do a background check on you.” He nodded. “Did you read it?” “No. It’s not something that I can change now anyway. I know that there is nothing serious in it, or I’d have not made it into the position that I’m in now. The reason I gave it to her is that she mentioned that I knew everything about her and she knew nothing of me.” Dad asked him what he knew about her. “Not all that much, really. I know that she was working two jobs to put herself through college.

She’s smart in that too, not overwhelming herself by taking on too many at once. Her grades are great. Anna would have been on the dean’s list if not for the fact that she’s only taking classes part-time. There was only twenty-four dollars in her account until yesterday.” “You think she’s going to be upset with you for doing that without asking. I’m assuming that you didn’t ask.” Morgan just smiled at his dad. “I see. So you’re trying your best to make her upset with you, is that it?” “Pretty much. She is so beautiful when she’s mad. I don’t tell her that, of course. I don’t have a death wish. Besides, in order to ask me about it, she’ll have to contact me. And that is going to bring me to her. At least that’s my plan.” Dad laughed, asking him if he thought that was going to work. “I can hope, can’t I? Besides, Dad, she really is going to be in deep trouble if her brother finds out where she is. They think she’ll come to heel, I think, and she won’t.” “No, it’s doubtful that she ever did. Do you suppose she’s going to be hurt by them?” Morgan said if they did harm her in any way, they’d never live to tell about it. “No, I don’t think they will. And it’d not be just you doing the killing either. Your mom, she sure does like her. Oh, did you hear about having to meet up at Thatcher and Rogen’s house tonight for some surprise? Everyone is supposed to show up. I tell you, I hate surprises more than anybody does.” “I do as well. But think of it this way—they might have an announcement to make or something.” Dad perked right up. “I have no idea if that’s true, Dad. I was making a joke.

It probably isn’t that at all.” “Well, a man could hope, couldn’t he? They have been sort of hiding away in that house of theirs. I ain’t seen hide nor hair of them very much over the last week. What do you suppose they’re doing?” Morgan said that he didn’t have any idea. “Well, I’ll see you tonight then. And if you want me to, I’ll sweet talk that mate into coming over too. She likes me.” “Everyone likes you, Dad. You’re a charmer. And the biggest bullshitter I’ve ever met.” Dad just glared, but didn’t deny it. “I have to get to work here if I’m planning on meeting you at Thatcher’s house. After I grade these papers I have to find someone to come in and repaint this room. I don’t think the sucker has been redone since before I was born.” Dad looked around. “Yeah, I think you might be right on that one. It looks to me like it’s been puked on a couple of times too. Is that blood over there in the corner?” Morgan looked and wasn’t surprised to see something that did indeed look like blood. “If you want my opinion, I’d take out all these old windows and put in ones that are tighter, as well as something that will keep the wind out. I’d sure hate to come here some morning and find you a Popsicle or something.” “I’ve put in a request to find out if I can do that. This building is pretty old. I’m betting that they tell me that it’ll ruin the way the whole thing looks to have windows put in that are more efficient than the ones that are in the rest of the building.” Dad told him that he needed to put in something. “I agree. Tomorrow, while classes are about over for the summer break, I’m going to have my desk brought in here.

That way it’ll free up some room for me from this monster.” “That desk is older than you are, I’d say. You might want to ask one of your brothers if they want it if you can get rid of it. It’s a fine desk, but much too big for this room.” Dad looked around. “In fact, son, I’d take out some of these here shelves too. There is no cause for you to have all of them in here when you really don’t need them, do you?” “No. I don’t. That’s on my list too. I can redecorate anyway that I wish so long as it doesn’t harm the structure of the building. I think a bomb could explode in here and it’d not hurt anything within a mile of my office.” Morgan jotted down another note on his to-do list. “This room is supposed to be an upgrade to the one I had. It is, sort of, but not by much.” The door behind his dad opened and Anna walked in. Morgan stood up and Dad practically ran from the room, closing the door behind him. Morgan could tell without asking that she was spitting mad about something. Whatever she was pissed about, he was sure that he was the one that she was going to take it out on.

Mercy Queen’s Birds of Prey Release Day & Giveaway

January 8, 2019January 20, 2019 Kathi BartonLeave a comment

Mercy and her warrior sisters had been around for several millennia, their time of fighting in wars and conquering kingdoms now a distant memory. Before Queen Dante passed, she’d graced her prized warriors—the falcon, hawk, eagle, phoenix, vulture, and owl—with humanity as well as immortality. A gift that Mercy, to this day, was having difficulty coming to terms with. Living as a human was not what she was born to do, nor what she wanted to do. Being an immortal in a life she didn’t want left Mercy feeling angry at the world and turned her into a workaholic.

As an intervention, Blaze arranged an extended vacation and guilted her into taking it. She made all the arrangements and wouldn’t tell Mercy where she was going, just to be at the airport and do as she was told.

Joel Oliver needed this job. Finances were tight, and Blaze said all he had to do was chauffer a rich woman around town. What he would receive would catch him up on the mound of bills piling up and keep the roof over his—and his thirteen-year-old daughter, Miley’s—head for a few months longer. Miley was in a wheelchair—and as a result, had a lot of medical bills—but he loved her more than his own life. However, Joel was about to bite off more than he could chew.

The woman was gorgeous, and he found her snarky, hateful, attitude amusing until she interfered with how he was raising his daughter. Now, all bets were off.

Mercy would normally laugh in the man’s face for his hurtful remarks, but for some reason, her heart shattered instead. After a night of the most mind-blowing sex she could’ve imagined, he was treating her like it all meant nothing…. She had just realized he was her mate, and he hated her….

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Prologue

The castle was going down, thanks wholly to her birds. Queen Dante sat upon her
horse and watched as stone after stone crumbled to the ground. In a matter of moments,
not only were the walls to the fort destroyed, but the king inside his castle was dead as
well. Turning her mount, she headed back to the encampment to ready herself for the
long ride home. The birds joined her not half an hour later, their large bodies covered in
dust and blood.

“You have done well, my darlings.” They could understand her and she them, but
no one else could. She had made them what they were, and she would be the only one
to control them. “Have you fed well on his dying cattle? How does it serve a man to
have his food dying? His people, they were fed no better, I saw.”
The birds—she had never named them—told her that the people were headed west.
In a few months, maybe less, they would all be dead too. It bothered them when the
people suffered because of the king or queen of the castle. But it was to be. Dante could
not care for any more in her own keep.
No one would attack her keep. If they tried, she knew them to be too stupid or too
drunk on their own mead. She had her birds, all of them bigger than life, made large by
magic that she gave them. Looking at them as they landed around her, forever keeping
her safe, she wondered why she had not thought of it sooner, when her king was still
alive.

“I would have set you upon him. You could have eaten him for your dinner.
Though I suspect that it would have given you a great deal of belly pains.” The hawk
told her that she was lucky that he had died the way he had. No one would come for
her if she had killed him. “Yes, that is very true. But I suffered greatly when he was
living. No children with me to give me comfort in my olden age. Though they might
have been just like him, and that would have been too much to bear.”
She would never marry again. Love wasn’t something that she searched for. Not
that she didn’t have someone to warm her bed on occasion, but it was nice to be able to
send them on their way when she was finished with them. Her heart belonged to no
one, and she would not take another man to her bed by force.

All would be well, and no
one would threaten to come and take over her home, she hoped. The birds’ as well.
The hawk used her beak to put delicate things upon the backs of the others. There
was aplenty this time. Barrels and smoked meats. Pottery that they would use like it
wasn’t worth a king’s gold. They raided the castle each time they conquered. Hawk was
the best at getting in and out before they took the places to the ground.
The eagle took off toward home. She would let the people know that the queen was
returning simply by her showing up. They would have a feast this night. The food upon
her back would feed them for many days, and the barrels of spices that had been
hoarded in the lower levels of the king’s castle would go a long way toward trading
what they did not grow.

The phoenix, by far the most deadly of her birds, shed her feathers in anticipation of
getting new ones. After a battle she would become anew, each time getting stronger,
and her feathers, brilliant now, would be brighter still. She could flame a fire so hot that
stone would crumble under a man’s feet. The ground would no longer hold a seed
within its belly to produce food, and she could kill a man with a single breath so that
there would be nothing left of his body.

Dante loaded the last of her things onto the back of the owl. She might be small, she
had always thought, but she could carry more than her own weight. And she would
pick up her horse, used to flying through the sky like a bird himself, and take him back
to the castle. He would be fed and groomed before Dante ever landed on the ground.
The vulture squawked at her, and she turned to look at the two men there. They
looked as if they might have been about to kill her, but the sight of such large birds
threw them off their duty. In no time at all the vulture snapped both of them up and ate
them. A gruesome sight, but one that filled her heart with joy too. She was safe again.
The vulture took off once she was loaded up.

“Well, my falcon, it is just you and I left.” She told her that she was still armed.
“Yes, well, probably not too bad of an idea seeing that they nearly shot us.”
The falcon laid her body to the ground. She was the only one that was fitted with a
seat, one that Dante rode on. Scouring the area, Dante always made sure that she left
the places that she camped as neat and clean as she’d found them. Sometimes in better
shape. As she climbed onto the back of her bird, she held her breath.
“I do hate the height. I should have thought this through when I turned you into
my warriors.” Her laughter, should there have been someone around to hear it, might
have sounded insane. “Homeward, my love, and we shall eat well tonight.”
She took no one with her on her fights, except the birds.

That was why she
believed, her people were so loyal to her—she protected them. Fed them better than
herself and made sure that there was plenty for them to trade and share for things that
she did not provide for them.
The soil was rich and would give forth a bounty like no other gardens. Flowers that
were woven into pretty things and traded. There was a smithy, as well as a doctor who
doubled as a dentist. They had even acquired a gravedigger, who doubled as a man
who made markers.
A single merchant that came by, his wagon filled when he arrived, would leave
with the wagon near empty. He would bring the latest news with him, and any posts
that he had been asked to bring to them. He would also, for a small coin, take outposts
for the next time he was in the keep of a relative or friend.
And today there was such a missive, but it was for her, from someone that she had
hoped never to hear from again. The king of the land—the only man that she answered
to, though it wasn’t with any kind of happiness on her part.
After the others were settled down and the food that had been brought put into
storage, she sat down and wasn’t surprised that the falcon came to see her. The room
that she was in—the throne room, for lack of a better term—had no roof, and six perches for the birds when they wished to see her.

Otherwise, they sat upon the top of
the castle turrets, watching for anything that might befall them.
“I am to wed. The king of the land, he has decided that my castle, Duncan Castle, is
the best there is, and he will marry me himself.” They asked about his castle. “He says
that it will be his son’s, which he has none as yet. His last five wives only gave him
daughters, from what I have heard, and they did not last long afterwards.”
The falcon asked her what she would do. Dante knew what would happen to her
should he come here. He would kill her. Being in her fortieth summer, she was much
too old to bear children now, and he would be better with a younger bride. One that
could birth him the sons that he wanted.

“He will kill me, we all know that. And you six will kill him or be killed. I worry so
much for the people here too.” She thought of several plans and threw them out. It was
in her head that if she should die, then she would do so on her own terms. “I will need a
day to think on this. In the meantime, he says that he will be here in the new year. That
will give us a month to provide for the people and make sure that they are not
harmed.”
To be continued in book two, Hawk

Jake Forbidden Release Day & Giveaway

March 20, 2017March 20, 2017 Kathi BartonLeave a comment

Forbidden: M/M LBGT Erotica Paranormal Romance

Jake Winslow’s marriage to the money grubbing shrew is over. Cutting off her funds, and the simple use of the word “no” sends her packing. When he comes home from work and finds his house empty of everything, including food, he feels–liberated.

Jake’s grandmother, Jenna, calls her friend and attorney, Forrest Stout, to handle Jake’s messy divorce. She can’t stand Jake’s soon-to-be ex-wife and is leaving nothing to chance. Only the best for her grandson, and the best is Forrest.

Forrest is a Were Tiger, and he knows “who” he is. He is an oddity in his paranormal world because he is gay. His kind mate for life, and after a recent disastrous attempt to find companionship, he has given up hope of ever finding his life mate.

From the moment Forrest meets Jake for the first time, he knows that Jake is his life mate, and he wants to run in the opposite direction because Jake isn’t gay. To claim and lose a mate would spell disaster for him. How can he ask a straight man–that he wants with every fiber of his being–to conform to his way of life? He can’t….

Ex-lovers, and ex-wives can be a dangerous combination. Especially when neither are right in the head….

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Now Live

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Stoking the Flames:

13 Tales of Dragons, Destiny and Desire

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His wife had left him. Jake wasn’t sure how he felt about it, but she was gone, that was a sure thing. And she’d taken everything; not just her things, but every stick of furniture in the house. He definitely wasn’t unhappy about that. Jake thought his wife had horrific taste in all manners of style. Jake figured that he should have seen it coming; he’d been seeing little signs that she wasn’t happy with him. Hell, he wasn’t happy with himself. But he had been trying his best to make her happy. Okay, maybe not happy, but at least make her life with him tolerable. Carol wasn’t really the nicest person in the world, nor did she tolerate fools easily. Well, not at all, and he thought she had it in her head that he was the biggest fool of them all. Jake Winslow had married his high school…Jake wasn’t sure she was his girlfriend or his sweetheart, but he did marry her when he’d been fresh out of high school. She’d told him, several times during his senior year, that if he didn’t marry her by the time he left for college, she’d not be around when he returned. Jake was never sure why he did it—he certainly didn’t love her—but she was the only woman he’d had sex with. He supposed he’d been led by his dick, as most men were. His parents had made him marry her. Jake wasn’t sure why that thought had entered his head after all these years, but he knew as surely as he was standing in his empty house that they’d made him. He hadn’t wanted to, not at all. If she’d not been there when he returned, then she’d just be gone. Pressure from his father and whining from his mother had made him do it. He was sure of that. So, fresh from his graduation he asked her to marry him, and of course she’d said yes. And the week before he left for college, they were married…right there on her parents’ front lawn. His parents had decided not to come to the quick wedding…something about contracts and money to be made. Money; he knew this was a huge factor in his father’s life. Jake had wished so many times over the last ten years that he’d just gone off to college and never returned. He might have but for the one person in his life that he loved more than he did himself—his grandma, Jenna Beck Winslow. As he made his way around the house, empty of even any foodstuffs, he thought of the things he’d have to do now. File for divorce, he supposed. Since she’d left him, he figured he’d be safe in betting that she’d gotten all she wanted from him. There really wasn’t much left for her to take anyway. He’d taken care of most of his property and stocks when she refused to sign a pre-nup as his grandma had suggested. The rest; well, he’d hidden that away as well. This house was in his grandma’s name. As were the deeds to the two buildings that he had downtown, other holdings in deals, as well as a few other things that Grandma and he held together. He’d done most of the hiding of assets several years ago, right after Carol had nearly gotten them in trouble with the IRS for not filing their taxes as she said she’d been doing. It had taken him nearly four months of working a lot of overtime and taking cases he didn’t like to pay back his grandma the money she’d generously lent him.

Paying Grandma back had been the one argument he’d won with Carol. After that, he changed a lot of things. As he stood in the kitchen, he thought of the last fight that they’d had in this room not three nights ago. He’d been working late, again, and had come in this room to fix something to tide him over until breakfast. Carol had come in and started on him about money. “The checking account is empty.” He didn’t even bother looking at her. He knew it was. He’d emptied it when he’d noticed her spending had gotten out of hand. “I need you to put something in the account so that I can go to the mall tomorrow. Borrow it from that old woman again if you have to, but there has to be money in the account when I need to buy something. I’ve been invited to go to the mall with some of the girls from the country club. You know how important it is to me to keep up appearances, and besides, some of my favorite stores are running a sale. That requires money in the bank, because, in case you didn’t notice, the credit cards aren’t working either.” “I’m not borrowing money from my grandma again. She’s been kind enough to us. And the credit cards aren’t working because I canceled them. All of them.” She asked him why he’d do that. “Because, as I have told you several times over the last six months, there isn’t that kind of money coming in to cover even the minimum payment the way you spend money. You have to stop using them for every little thing you want. I’ve told you that. And since you can’t even do that, then I’ve taken control of them out of your hands.” He didn’t say for now, because Jake knew that she’d only continue to spend the money as if there were no limits. Charging things like ugly furniture that no one sat on. Dresses that would still have the tags on them when she donated them to some cause that the other sheep were into. And she’d go to restaurants and pay for everyone’s meals even though she didn’t like them any better than she did him. No, Jake had thought, she wasn’t getting any more ways to spend money. She had growled at him, something he’d only just noticed that he thought was juvenile. “I don’t know why you’re doing this to me, but I want you to know that I do not care for it. You make enough money for me to spend a few bucks now and again, Jake. Fix this.” He told her he had. Just not the way she wanted. “I don’t care what you do, but I’m going to the mall in the morning and I’m going to use those cards. I would suggest that if you don’t want me going to jail, because I will throw the fit of all fits, then you’d better make this right.” He’d finished making his sandwich and sat down at the table. Even before he could pick up his dinner of cold roast beef on a hotdog bun, all he could find, she swiped it from the table and onto the floor. He hadn’t wanted to get into it with her, but she had left him no choice. Jake knew that shouting at her would get him nothing but a headache. Carol was ten times more stubborn than any other person he knew. He’d looked at her as she stood before him with a self-satisfied smirk on her face. “Why are you like this? Why do you treat me as if I’m nothing more than a way for you to have the things you want?” She said nothing but stared at him, tapping her foot as she’d done so many times in the past. Well, he wasn’t going to give in this time, no

matter what she said or did. “I’m not going to put money in the bank so you can spend it on foolish things. Nor am I going to reinstate the credit cards so that you can run the limit to the max again. I got them paid off now, and there is no reason for you to—” “If you paid them off, then there no reason whatsoever that I can’t have them back, Jake. There are plenty of things I can buy now. The entire house could use a once over. Things are stale here. Give the cards to me and I will buy you something nice for that nasty office you work in.” He just stared at her after telling her to leave his office alone. “Jake, I’m not kidding you. If you don’t give me those cards, I’m going to leave you. Then what will you do? I should have the things I want. I did marry you.” “I married you as well, Carol. And you’re going to put us in the poor house with your total disregard to money and how it’s made. I purchased you this overpriced house that I didn’t want and the car that you seldom drive. You promised me then that you’d curb your spending. I can’t keep working like this so that you can toss our money away like you have no respect for how hard I work for it.” She simply put out her hand as if he was just going to turn them over. “I’m done. I’m not going to do this with you again.” When she left him there, he stood to clean up his mess. He wasn’t surprised when he heard the door to the bedroom slam, nor did he react when he heard her screaming. It was her way, he supposed, to make sure that everyone, including the neighbors, knew when she was displeased. They were probably used to it by now; he certainly was. Jake, as he had done for a while now, had gone to one of the spare bedrooms to sleep. He even went so far as to lock the door, and then put the dresser in front of it. He didn’t think that she’d harm him, but he didn’t want to take the chance that she’d come in and try to take whatever she found in his wallet. The cards, like a great many things he didn’t want her to have, were in the safe at his grandma’s home. And now here he was in his home with no wife, no tables and chairs, and probably not a single thing he could sleep on. Moving to the living room now he saw that she’d left him a nice note. The walls of this room were smeared with what he could only surmise was her last calling card. The note was written in spray paint all over the walls and over the fireplace. He, in a sort of disjointed way, thought about the amount of effort she’d taken to do this when he couldn’t even get her to clean up after herself in the bath. Dear deadbeat, I have found that I can no longer live under the rules that you’ve put me under. Good riddance. Jake grinned and wished this other man, if there was another one, all the luck in the world. He was going to need it, and a fat bank account. Jake was sure that even if the man had an endless supply of money it would never be enough for Carol. He pulled out his cell phone and called the only woman he’d ever loved. His mom hadn’t ever meant as much to him as his grandma did, and he doubted if she ever would. “Carol left me.” She told him good. “Yeah, I figured you’d say that. She took everything too. I’m pretty sure if there was a mouse in the house, he’d be starved by morning. I don’t have a pot to even piss in now, and oddly enough, I don’t really care. And when I was in my bedroom a little while ago, I noticed that she fixed my suits for me too. They’re cut to shreds.”

“She was a dreadful child, and she didn’t improve when she became an adult. I blame that on her parents, because they’re not much better. Frightful people.” He laughed as he sat on the stairs. “Why don’t you come here tonight? You and I will get drunk, eat some dinner, and have a good laugh over her. I don’t suppose she left you for another man, did she? That poor bastard.” “I don’t know. I think if there were a man out there that could keep up with her spending, he’d be sorry before now. Carol was mad about the credit cards.” He looked at the wall and repeated what Carol had written there. “And on a good note, I no longer have to cover up the couch when I want to sit on it…if I had a couch. I have never in all my life known a woman who had a negative sense of style like Carol has. And if there is another man, I’m betting he’ll have no idea what he’s getting himself into until it’s too late.” “Oh well, not your problem any longer, I’m thrilled to say. The girl needed to have left you a long time ago.” He agreed with his grandma. “Come over here and we’ll celebrate. I’ll have Bonny freshen your room up and we’ll have some fun. Lord knows you deserve it after ten years of hell.” “I’m exhausted, Grandma, and don’t think I have the energy to drive.” She asked him what he was going to sleep on, the floor? “I have no idea, but I’m just too tired to go out tonight. I’ll come over tomorrow and we’ll plot. I know I have to file for divorce now; I’m done with her. And hire someone good to take the case. I think her parents will want me to give her everything despite how much she already took.” “I’ll talk to my attorney. He never cared for Carol anyway after all the stories I’ve told him. He’d more than likely do it for free.” Jake laughed. “Come over, darling. I want to see you.” “I really can’t. I’m not sure I have the energy to even drive there. I’ll just find some blankets—I think there are a couple in my car—and spread them out on the floor. I’m too tired to care if I have a lot of comforts or not.” He walked to the door to go to his car even as he continued. “Tomorrow is Saturday. I’ll come over in the morning and have breakfast with you. One thing that’s good about this is that I don’t have to work myself to death to pay for her shit.” Jake looked around and shuddered. The couch in this room had been a bright green paisley. The chair a solid green that was almost blue green in color. The pillows had been plaid. He had avoided looking at the drapes, a deep blood red color that was a combination of squares and some sort of squidgy design that had made him seasick. Every room in the house was like that, brightly overdone and full of so many patterns that he never could figure out what she’d been going for. “I’m so glad that you’re looking at this as a positive thing. She was a mess and we both knew it. All right, go to sleep and I’ll see you first thing in the morning. I’ll have Cook make your favorites. Even bacon.” He laughed when she did. His grandma loved bacon more than he did. “I love you, Jake. Take care tonight.” “I will.” As he spread out the blanket he’d unearthed from the trunk of his car, he thought of what order things had to go in now that he was alone. The house would have to go. But

even as he lay down on the floor with the fireplace roaring out at him, he knew that he’d keep it. It was his after all, and Carol would be jealous that he had it. As he lay there, thinking of his life thus far, all he could feel was relieved. He was free. For the first time in his adult life, Jake was free. Rolling to his back, he could see his life as it had played out before him. From the first moment he’d seen Carol, he knew that she wasn’t for him. There was just something so…. While he didn’t think she was evil, he’d never felt particularly safe around her. Then after Jake had done a little investigating, he knew better than to piss her off. Carol had set her sights on him for a reason that he just couldn’t understand. His family had money, that was true, but he didn’t have anything that he could claim as his own. At least not back then. He’d not even gotten a new car for graduation as she had. The car he drove was a beater that his grandma had helped him get for running around campus, and he used a four-year-old computer. Plus, he had received a scholarship to one of the most prestigious colleges in the country. Jake had worked really hard for that. After he and Carol had been married for about a month, she started coming to him about money. She needed this or that. As a student paying rent for a house while he was in college, there wasn’t enough money in the account for him to buy books and her things. She’d never let him live down the fact that he’d made her suffer by not having any money all the time. But when he’d been taken in by a very good firm, Jake thought he’d more than made up for her suffering. Jake didn’t understand most of the things that she purchased, either. Who needed ten pair of shoes when you could only wear one at a time? And why did she need a new coat for every season? What was wrong with the one that she had in her closet? Most of the time he went without one just so she’d be happy. But she was never happy, nor was she ever satisfied, he’d just realized. No matter what he did or sacrificed for her, it was never enough. After he’d gotten out of school there were plenty of offers for him to look over. He’d been looking for stability, a good income, and a place he could like going to work for daily. A good firm that he could be proud to work for, and one that, someday, he’d be able to be a partner with. Carol had had a different outlook on his job prospects. She wanted location. An address that said she had money, or at least the appearance of it. There were questions that she had about where they’d live. How they’d live was questioned too, things such as servants, lawn service, and even limo rides. Where the closest mall was. Was there a country club membership involved? Would she be a part of the firm’s family as well, such as receiving invites to the partners’ homes? And she expected parties and shopping sprees. “I don’t think we should care about that so much just yet.” Carol had asked him what she should be caring about then. “Well, schools for our children. Where we might find the safest neighborhoods. And how quickly I can climb the corporate ladder. Mostly I think we should pay off some of our debt that we got while I was in college, and then save for a smaller house at first.” “No, I don’t want that at all. The bills? Those are your problem, not mine. You could have worked while going to college, and if you had, you’d not owe so much. Jake, if I’m

going to be a lawyer’s wife, then I can expect things to go my way for a change. I catered to your needs enough while you were off studying.” She made it sound as if he’d not been working hard at his classes and had fucked around. Jake wondered even then if she realized how much things went her way now. “We’ll find us a house that I want, then you can work from there if you’d like. But I deserve a nice home, bigger than my daddy’s.” He was never sure how she was going to make that work. Nine firms wanted him to come and work for them, two of them in another state. But Carol had not only found her a house she could tolerate—her words to him when they moved in—but she also got a house much larger than they needed. She called it their starter house, whatever the hell that meant. Lucky for them, or at least him, it wasn’t far from his grandma’s, and he could go see her whenever he wished. Jake realized that he wasn’t going to get any sleep with his mind so busy, so he pulled out the laptop from his briefcase and turned it on. As he searched for things to fill his home, he found himself looking on sites for furniture that his wife might have wanted. So, with a huge smile, he put in searches for things that he might like. By the time the sun was coming up, not only had Jake filled two rooms of the house, but he’d found that he was having fun. By the time he made his way to his grandma’s house, he was actually giddy with contentment. ~~~ Carol smiled when she thought of her husband. In a few days she’d call him, find out how much he was suffering, and then tell him that she’d take him back. But under her terms. There would be no more of his cutting off her spending. It was her right to spend as much money as she wished, and he should have realized that before now. Sitting on the large bed that had come with the hotel she’d set up for herself, Carol knew it was just a matter of time before he’d come to his senses. Jake was a nice man, but nice men finished last. Carol was going to have to teach him that lesson sooner or later. “Carol, do you think this is the smartest move you can make right now with Jake? I mean, he is due for his annual bonus, you told me. Had you waited for that, you could have set yourself up nicely instead of borrowing from me to finance this idea you have.” Carol told her mother that it was in the bag. “If you say so. I think he might like you being gone. Your father and I certainly are glad to have you gone from our house.” “What a thing to say to me, Mother. You have always been so mean to me. Why is that? I think you’re just jealous, aren’t you? But about Jake, I’m betting he’s already missing me. I can just see him now, wandering around the house sobbing for me. Wondering what it is he’s going to have to do to get me back. Well, it’s going to be different, that’s for sure.” She wasn’t sure about the sobbing part, but she knew that he’d take her back in a heartbeat. The man wouldn’t be where he was right now without her. “Jake will do just what I tell him to do. I know that he’s had some rough times of late what with all those charge card bills that he had to pay off, but I’m sure by now that he’s thinking what a mistake he made in cutting me off. I have him wrapped around my little finger.”

Her mother huffed at her. Carol wondered why she’d come to see her when all she had to do was give Carol some money and her credit card. But she hadn’t. Her mother was very untrusting too. Carol glared at her mother, wondering how on earth she’d had such a horrible person in her life all these years. Carol thought they’d all be better off if she would just die. Or be killed. That would be a better pay off in the insurance for her daddy. “In the meantime, I’m paying for this room and the storage units you had to have to store all that crap in. Why on earth you had to take everything is beyond me. Or for that matter, why you’d want to. It’s the ugliest shit I’ve ever seen. If I were Jake, I’d be pissed about you buying it in the first place. Were you trying to prove some point by going out and finding things that no human would possibly want in their garage, much less their home?” Carol waved her mom off. There was no accounting for some people’s tastes, she thought. “Carol, he might not care a fig that you’ve left, have you thought of that? You said yourself that he’s been cutting you off more and more all the time. Perhaps he’s finally gotten sick of you spending all that money. You nearly ruined him once; perhaps he’ll be thrilled to death that you’ve finally left and taken those things with you.” “Mother, you just don’t understand our relationship. Once he sees the error of his ways, he’ll be running back to me. You’ll see. I’ll call him on Monday and then you’ll see that I’m right. He might even be calling me before then. Jake isn’t all that smart, and he won’t be able to fend for himself in that big empty house without me there to guide him.” Actually, Carol was surprised that he’d not called her last night or this morning. Surely he’d seen what she’d done to him. At the very least, he would’ve seen the note she’d taken the time to leave him. “I had to take a stand in this. It’s the only way that he’s going to learn anything.” “He’s not stupid, Carol. Jake is a smart man, and I think you’re overestimating this hold you think you might have over him. As I said, he’s more than likely dancing a jig around the room and buying things that he likes and not you.” She asked her mother what she was talking about. “You think that you have him by the balls. I’m pretty sure, since he’s cut you off so nicely, that he has taken them back and will use them. I don’t think you realize what a bitch you’ve been to him.” “Mother, if you can’t be nice to me in my time of need, then perhaps you should just go home. I’m settled now. But the next time I want you to bring me money and a credit card, just have one of the servants do it. Or Daddy.” Her mom huffed again. “Why are you always treating me like I’m the bad guy? Jake just needs to learn that I’m the best thing that has ever happened to him. Once he does, then things will start to go back to the way I want them. No more cutting me off just because he said. I’m a grown woman, and have needs that he doesn’t understand.” “Carol, I think he understands you more than even you do. As I’ve said time and time again, the man could have done much better than you.” Her mother had always been so jealous of her, of her beauty, her husband. Even the way she decorated. “I’m going home. But as I told you when you called, I can only pay for you to stay here for two nights. I don’t know why you have to have the best of everything. Had you gone cheaper, you could have had—”

“I do not do cheap. I’m an attorney’s wife. I should have better.” Her mom said something as she was moving out the door but Carol decided to ignore her. “If I need to stay more than you paid for, I’ll let you know. I still don’t know why you’ve put a limit on my trying to get my marriage to work.” Two nights away from her would be just what Jake needed to get his head on straight. The nerve of the man thinking he could just cut her off after everything she’d done for him. And the sooner he figured out that he needed her around, the better he’d be. Laying back on the bed, she thought of the things she was going to do once she was back to the house. “I’m going to sell off every stick of furniture that was in there and start over. The house needs a fresh look anyway.” She’d thought about just setting it on the side of the road when she’d left him, but was afraid that he’d just lug it back in after she was gone. He’d do that too, embarrass her like that. “Then I’m going to have the pool enlarged, and we’re going to have a staff too.” She didn’t swim, didn’t even know how, but her parents didn’t have a pool so she wanted one. And the staff would make her day so much better. Just being able to say that to someone… “I have to talk to the staff,” or “The staff has been so much trouble lately.” It excited her to no end to think of someone asking her about how many she had. They’d had staff at first…well, someone to cook for them. There had been cleaning personnel as well. A woman and her daughter had come in twice a week to dust and run the vacuum. But after the first large purchase that she’d made to redo the living room, he’d cut even that off. The cook; Carol couldn’t even remember why they’d left, but Jake had gone on for over an hour about how she was to treat people that worked for them. Carol thought that staff, no matter what they did for her, needed to cater to her needs more than she did theirs. Thoughtless people. They needed to learn their place, and they would when she was back in charge. The phone ringing startled her. As she picked it up, thinking it was her mother, she snapped at her to leave her alone. The silence at the other end made her pause. When she asked who was there, she was greeted with male laughter. “I’m Forrest Stout. You must be Carol Lane Winslow.” She said that she was just Carol Winslow. “For now. I’m calling on behalf of Jake Winslow. He would like to set up a meeting with you in the near future.” “You tell him when he cuts me off, I cut him off. And what do you mean, for now?” The man laughed again and she positively abhorred him. “Who are you anyway? One of his buddies from work? Never mind. You tell Jake that I will come home when he has his priorities right. If you’d like to take him my demands, I can read them off to you. There won’t be any more cutting me off. I demand that—” “No, I won’t be taking him anything of the kind. But as for being his friend, I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting Jake, but I think, just because he left you, I could be his best friend. I have, however, spoken to his grandmother. Jenna and I go way back.” Carol didn’t care. She didn’t care for the elderly Winslow any more than she did Jake’s parents.

“What time can you meet with us, Carol? I’d like to get this over with for him so that he can move on with his life.” “I’m not going to meet with him at all until I get some reassurance that what I want is taken care of. You tell him that.” He said that he would. “Aren’t you even going to ask me what I want? And I don’t appreciate you cutting me off. I don’t know who you think you’re talking to but—” “No, I’m reasonably sure neither of us want to know what you might want. And I’m also sure I’ve got you figured out. Oh, and while I have you on the phone, you should know that the locks have been changed on the house and the garage that you shared with Jake. Also, the things that you have in storage, they’re being removed even as we speak and moved to the address that you put on the receipt. I’m sure your parents are going to just be thrilled. You have a nice day.” She was still standing there holding the dead receiver when she thought of what he’d said to her. Why would Jake change the locks? Was he afraid of someone robbing them? There wasn’t shit in the house. That, to her, was locking the barn door after the horse got out. Or something like that. Her dad said that all the time, and she was happy to think that she knew that one. Also, what did he want a meeting for? Why not just have her come back to the house? She put the receiver in the cradle of the phone and sat on the bed. She wondered too what he’d said about the storage and how that would make her parents happy. Her mother wasn’t getting her things. “What are you up to, Jake?” She thought about calling him, asking him straight up what he was doing, but that would interfere with her plans. He was going to beg her to come home, and her calling him wasn’t on her list. “You aren’t playing by my rules, Jake, and that will only make this harder on you.” She went to the lovely desk that hadn’t been in the room when she’d gotten there. A few well-placed calls, everyone understanding that she was a lawyer’s wife, had not only gotten her the desk, but also free usage of the mini-bar. The Jake list, as she’d begun to call it, was pretty good if she did say so herself. There were some things marked off on it already. And things were going along just the way she wanted them, also in the order that she wanted them. Carol was looking at number six that was as yet still unmarked. He should have called her by now. Again, he wasn’t doing things the way she wanted them. Number one had been having the house emptied. It had been difficult for her to find a mover that would do it all in one day. But her daddy had come through for her on that. He’d hired two firms to come in and take over. Of course she’d lied to Daddy, telling him that there were bugs in the house and that her lovely things were going to be ruined if they didn’t get them out of the house, and he’d done it. Her mother had shown up at her door while she was working on number two. Leave Jake a note. “What are you up to, Carol? You can’t have Jake’s permission to do this to his home.” She turned to her mom and glared. “You’re going to regret this.” “No I’m not, I have a plan. And since this is my house, I don’t need his permission, nor do I care if he has an opinion concerning my actions. This is all his fault anyway.”

She’d been thrilled to death to show her mother her list, and all she did was tell her she was ill-advised if she thought this was going to work. “Of course it’ll work. I always get what I want.” “You’ve never gone this far before. I’m pretty sure that he’s not going to do what you want this time, no matter how many lists you have and whatever order you put them in. It’s bad enough that you’ve treated this man so poorly all these years, but to do this, to destroy his home…. Carol, I never thought I’d say this to my own child, but you’re not right in the head.” Number three had been harder to get than she thought it would. Her mom didn’t like to part with money any more than Jake did. But in the end Mother had put her up in a hotel. It was her plan to go live with her parents for a few days, but her mother had said no and had more than likely convinced Daddy that it was not a good idea. She was going to have a long talk with him once she was back in her home and with Jake. Mother was starting to get on her nerves, and she was sure her daddy would fix it. Number four had been put in motion the moment she was set up in the hotel. Make sure that her friends knew where she was and why. Well, her version of why she was out of her home. She’d told them that she and Jake had had a terrible fight and she’d left him until he could cool down. That hadn’t gone as well as she’d planned either, now that she thought about it. Not a single one of her friends had been sympathetic to her. She’d expected them to rally around her, bad mouth Jake and his treatment of her, but not one of them had. Two had said they were too busy to talk and had hung up. Mercedes, the one that she’d thought the most of, who also had the most money of all her friends, had told her she’d be lucky if Jake didn’t divorce her on the spot. And that she’d not blame him one single bit. The others hadn’t taken any of her calls. Carol thought that since it was late in the year a lot of them had gone out of town. That had to be the reason. Then there was number five. Five had been a spur of the moment add-on to her list. And possibly the worst thing she might have done. At least to the standpoint that it had gotten her the most grief. People weren’t as receptive to her story as she’d hoped they’d be. Going to the newspaper to tell them that Jake had hit her had been a huge undertaking. It had required her to pinch her mouth until it was puffy, and to wear dark glasses when it wasn’t too terribly bright outside. Twice she’d walked into a wall, and once had tripped over the curb. And for all that, she’d been humiliated once she’d entered the big building. Three of the people that had agreed to talk to her told her she was full of shit, and one of them had even told her she was lucky that he’d not hurt her worse. Carol tried to tell them that they didn’t know Jake as she did, and was left in tears after they made fun of her. Now here she was on number six, and she’d hit a wall. There had been no calls from Jake so that she could execute that part of her plan. She was going to tell him, no matter what he said, that she wasn’t going to live like he’d wanted her to. She was going to tell him that she needed money to make her life better. That there had to be changes, too, in how they lived. Not only would there be a staff for her to order around, but she wanted

a gardener as well as a limo driver. Each of her bullet points were left unchecked because her husband hadn’t called. “Damn it, Jake, what are you up to? And what is taking you so long to do what I need for you to do?” As she paced the room, she tried to think of reasons that he’d not called. His phone was dead? Not likely. He was the only person she knew that could go days on a single charge. He just never used his phone like normal people did. Did he forget her daddy’s number? No, she’d made sure that it was programed into his phone the moment he’d gotten it. There wasn’t any reason she could think of that he’d not have been able to call. That man that had called, Stout, he alleged he’d talked to Jake. She knew that had to mean that his phone was still working and it was charged. They didn’t own a house phone, again because Jake said it would be a waste of money, so that couldn’t be it. Then she wondered if he was working late again. Jake did work on Saturdays a great deal. She thought it had been because he was going to ask for an increase on the limits on his cards, but then he’d gone and canceled them all. But even working on Saturday didn’t negate the fact that he should have called her. Nothing was as important as him calling and begging her to come home. His calling was the thing that was going to get her what she’d wanted. Carol decided that she was going to make him suffer more for this, and smiled as she added that to her list.

Nathaniel Blood BrotherHood Series ( Final Book ) Release Day 12/26/16

December 26, 2016December 26, 2016 Kathi BartonLeave a comment

Beth Snow had been given a death sentence. The doctors had only given her six months to live. She didn’t want her parents to have to watch her die, so she packed up everything she had in the new motorhome and hit the road.

Nate knew she was coming. He’d been dreaming of her for months now, and all the dreams where they were battling Benton had turned out the same— with Beth’s death. How could he take a mate to just watch her die?

The battle to save the earth was reaching its peak for Rembrandt’s Blood Brotherhood. Everyone’s dreams had become prophetic, and either Benton would die, or they all would. Would they find the missing piece to their strategy to defeat the monster once and for all? Live or die, they were all in it until the bitter end. What happens next? Find out in the final installment of the Blood Brotherhood—Nathaniel.

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Note: 18+. Does not have to be read in order. Can stand alone. Full length novel.

Fantasy, Demons & Devils

1800 years ago…

It was time for him to die. Rembrandt was ready. He had put up a good fight and nearly died twice that day, but now he was done and he was ready to die on the battlefield with the rest of his brethren. Death would be merciful, he would finally be with his wife and children.

A being clad in black had other ideas. Rembrandt was meant to help him fight his cause and to help right a wrong that his kind had brought to this world. He gifted the reluctant Rembrandt with a taste for blood and immortality…and more…so much more.

Back to the present…

Rembrandt had had enough. He was over this life 1800 years ago and now he was just sick of it. The creatures he fought, the malefactors, kept growing in numbers and he couldn’t kill them fast enough to keep up. He had fought the battle alone all these years and he wasn’t sure he even wanted to anymore.

Skylar Manning was just trying to be nice. The mysterious man dressed in black was hanging around after closing…again. It was the third time this week. Only this time he grabbed her arm. Her world changed forever.

Suddenly she found herself hunted by shadowy figures with razor sharp teeth, and into the arms of a warrior who craved her as much as she did him…

Vicki Carver had seen all the carnage from what appeared to be some kind of battle and just stopped long enough to see if the big man was alive or dead like the rest of them. That large broadsword in his hand had her keep her distance. Pitching a pebble or two at his face should arouse him if he was indeed still alive.

Davis Brown was thoroughly exhausted, but he couldn’t ignore the small stones pelting his face. If it was more malefactors to fight he’d just have to let them do him in. He was too tired to fight again so soon. To his surprise it was a woman―not just any woman―but a feisty vixen who was not only beautiful but could see the malefactors. That meant that she was either magical or one of them―a warrior―his mate….
Vicki had her own demons to battle and to be thrown into a mystical battle with Rembrandt’s warriors to save their world from being overrun by malefactors wasn’t anything she had planned for, much less this mate business. Who did he think he was anyway? But she couldn’t seem to resist the hot, sexy man that brought her to the compound….

Leonard Earl wants no part of Rembrandt’s rag tag team of saviors. Before the cancer he’d been happy teaching children. But when the mysterious man in black shows up in his hospital room and heals him, he has no choice but to join the group. No one says he has to like it.

Jamey has been on her own awhile. It doesn’t take her long to figure out she is different, and that the malefactors can’t change her into one of them. Since the malefactors have taken over her town, she spends her days picking them off with her bow and arrows, or delivering food and water to the remaining survivors.

Jamey’s body is also a “host” to a dragon that has been with her for as long as she can remember. He protects her and keeps her safe…. The dragon is leading Jamey to the man he is destined to transfer to. He tells her together they will balance. Jamey is willing to take the dragon wherever he needs to go, but the man she wants no part of…. She will miss her friend.

Leo is none too happy to find out that Jamey is bringing the dragon to him and the discovery that she is his mate. He’s already had a woman break his heart and wants no part of this mate business. He takes the dragon to save her life, but that’s where it ends…or does it?

The malefactors are increasing in number and they need to stand together to defeat them. Jamey sees her chance and takes it to defeat their enemy. Will Leo make the ultimate sacrifice to save her? Find out in the next installment of Blood Brotherhood―Leonard.

Christopher hadn’t been with Rembrandt’s group long. With their combined efforts there were fewer and fewer monsters to fight. His mate had died a long time ago, so he volunteered to go with Skylar to look for some “newbies”. When they arrived at the warehouse the new ones were acting very strange.

Kate had been scouting out the building when a large crate just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Curiosity had her standing in the shadows when she saw two warriors come up the stairs and approach the crate. When they became aware of her presence, the man shifted into the largest cat she’d ever seen and pinned her to the floor with his large paws.

Kate was more than any of them had bargained for, and Chris soon discovered that Kate was his true mate, that the other woman never was. And when they fought together they were downright scary.

With their enemies Ward and Nolan dead, there was no one left to keep Benton, the huge monster they’d created, in line. Benton had lost his mind a long time ago, but one thought remained constant…he wanted Rembrandt dead….

Richard James is a very old vampire and was already an immortal when he joined Rembrandt’s team. Old grievances and heartaches, committed decades ago, still haunt him today. The murders of his mate and brother can be placed on a single culprit—Lucia Alverez.

Ryiah isn’t happy. It’s do as her sister says or suffer the consequences. She can handle the beatings, but being locked up in a cell again with no sunshine or earth is more than she can bear. Ryiah is fae and needs these things to survive. So when her sister says to bring her her mate, Richard James, the second lord of the Highlands castle of Ireland, that’s what Ryiah sets out to do.

Vampires and fae are mortal enemies. The blood of the fae is like an intoxicating drug to a vampire, turning the vampire feral. Rick knows immediately that the beautiful woman is fae, but that’s not the problem, there are other fae at Rembrandt’s compound and Rick has no problems being around them. But this one…there is something different about her….

From the moment he touches her, he knows that she’s his mate…the mate he didn’t want…and to make matters worse, she is the sister to his mortal enemy—Lucia Alverez….

BLOOD BROTHERHOOD SERIES –

1. Rembrandt – http://smarturl.it/rembrandt

2. Davis – http://smarturl.it/davis

3. Leonard – http://smarturl.it/leonard

4. Christopher – http://smarturl.it/christopher

5. Richard – http://smarturl.it/richardBloodBrohood

Happy Reading ,

ATTENTION AUTHORS & READERS
Join us for ARC NOLA 2017
Jan 27th & 28th, 2017
Holiday Inn Superdome (Just 3 blocks to the French Quarter!)
Ticket Link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/arc-nola-2017-tickets-22804931163

Reader tickets only $15.00 for both days
Book Signing is FREE and open to the public

Author spots still available
Each 1/2 table includes 1 free reader ticket the author can give away.

Where Authors and Readers come together for fun in the French Quarter.

Friday is registration and small group outings into the French Quarter.
Plan what you would like to offer as an outing for the readers.

Saturday
Speed-date the authors in the morning.
Lunch break
Afternoon FREE to the public book signing
Another evening in the French Quarter

Sunday
Travel home

The ticket does not include meals.
There are so many incredible restaurants in the French Quarter;
I have left meal options up to the attendees.
Authors may want to organize small groups for lunch or dinner outings.

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The motor home coughed a couple of times but continued down the road. Looking in the rear-view mirror, she wondered what she’d been thinking picking something so fucking big to use to get away. The thing was top of the line, sure, but for just her, it was too much. Simply too much of everything. Pulling into the gas station, she had to smile. She was filling this sucker up every ten minutes, it felt like. “I’m certainly doing my part in stimulating the economy by using this.” The lines were short, so she pulled into the bay closest to the road. Stretching her neck before getting out, she felt a stab of pain in her heart and sat very still to see where it went next. When she felt nothing more, she stood up and made her way to the pumps. Beth knew that should her heart shut down while she was driving, she might hurt someone else when she crashed. It was why she was very careful and took precautions that were well beyond what older people did when they were told they had a bad ticker. And she had about as bad of one as there was. She’d been dealt a bad hand, as her grandma used to say. Beth Snow was going to die because of her heart. Not because it was broken, which in a way it was, but because it was enlarged…too big to function properly. It would happen much sooner than anyone could have guessed, especially her and her family, but it was going to happen and she wanted it to happen on her terms. It was the reason for this trip. The lie behind going to see some sites before she settled down. Beth wanted to be as far from her parents as she could when the time came. She knew her mom would be…her mom and her dad would be devastated. She knew he still would be, but she didn’t want him there when it was done. That wasn’t right either. She wanted them both there, but was trying to spare them the pain of it. It’s not that they were mean to her. No, never that. But they did have a way about them that would bring out the worst in each other. Her mother was controlling, manipulative, as well as whiney, and she had been since Beth was little. She didn’t like when things were not going her way, and she did something about it, even to the point of being rude and nasty. Her mom, Ruth, would get something in her head, or she’d want someone to do things her way. Then when they disagreed or didn’t meet her expectations, she’d do it herself. That never went over well in their neighborhood, and it had caused some horrible fights, with the police being called in and her dad having to pay some fine, bail her mom out, then apologize to whoever it was she had upset. Even her dad wasn’t immune to her mom’s manipulative behavior, and when he didn’t do something or say the right thing to her, she would want Beth to call him and make him do whatever it was that week. Like that was ever going to happen. Beth was the daughter, not her babysitter, and certainly not her dad’s task master. Her dad, Lyle, was a quiet man. He had worked hard for the money that Mom spent to keep up with the neighbors. And even though he had retired some years ago, they didn’t want for anything and had made sure that as their only child didn’t ether. But as

soon as she’d turned eighteen, she’d gotten out in the world on her own and had made herself as independent as she could. She had made a good living at it as well by following in her dad’s footsteps and becoming an engineer like he’d been. But leaving them like she had, that was the smartest thing she’d ever done, she thought. For a lot of reasons. The last face to face conversation with her mom had sealed that deal. “I don’t understand how you think this is going to make you get any better. Just let us go with you and keep you on the right track to getting well. It’s not like we have anything to do. Your father hasn’t worked in several years.” Beth could have pointed out that he’d retired from his job but still had a very good income. And when they wanted something, he’d go find something fun to do to pay for it and not touch their savings. She looked at her dad and could see while he was hurt too, he sort of understood because this was, after all, her mom. “Tell her, Lyle. Tell her that she needs to let us go with her so she can get better. We can’t make sure that she’s doing what it takes for her to get well if we’re not there.” “Ruth, I think that she’s right.” Her mom turned her back to him, and Beth knew that later her mom would tell her dad how he was wrong to have said those things and that he should have agreed with her. “This will be good for her. Kinda wish I’d taken a trip like this when I was younger. See a little of this big world before things get all hinky. But she needs this and I think she’s doing what she needs to. Not just for her, either.” Hinky. What a wonderful word to say his little girl was going to die. “I’ll send you post cards and when I can, I’ll call you once a week. I really do need this.” “Well, I hope you know that you’re both wrong in this. I can’t make sure that you’re eating properly or that you’re taking care of yourself if you won’t allow me this. Bethany, you know as well as I do that you’re going to need me to make sure that you’re doing all the right things to get well.” Her mother put her hand on her arm and hugged her. “You need me now as much as you did when you were a little girl and had the flu. Just tell us where you’re going and we’ll travel along with you. There’s a good girl.” “Mom, I’m not going to get well. I’m going to die. And soon. You know this. The doctor told us that there is nothing he can do for me. Not even a transplant is going to help me now. It’s too late for me.” Beth wanted to take the words back but her mom slapped her, something that she’d never done in all her life. Without another word, her mom turned her back on her too and went into the house. Beth was sure that, even though she was upset with her, her mom had gone in and started packing her things to go anyway. “Go, baby. Go now before she comes out here and loads her things up in that home of yours while we stand here, and is aghast that she’s ready before you are.” Beth hugged her father, knowing deep inside of her heart that it would be the last for them both. “I love you, baby girl. I have loved you since the moment you took your first breath, and will well after you take your last. Be careful and have fun.” When he let her go, he left her too. She’d seen the tears then, streaming down his face, and had gotten into her moving home and left. That had been six months ago. According to her doctor, Beth had only one or two of the six to eight months he’d given her to live left.

The gas pump popping, signaling that it was finished giving her fuel, startled her from her thoughts. Putting the handle back in the little slot, she looked around while the receipt printed. She would have to find a place to rest soon, a campground that would take her big rig, and settle in for a few days. She might even go and see some of the sights while she was here, she thought, and got into the camper with her small paper. Starting the engine, she let her broken heart mend a little as she made her way back into the traffic. The campground was quiet this time of year. She supposed that most vacationers had had their fill of camping by now. Late winter was not really a go to a place in a motor home kind of time. Smiling to herself, she watched as snow started to fall as she fixed herself some soup and then settled down to enjoy it. Beth didn’t bother with the television, and if asked, she did not even know if she could turn it on. It was the quiet that she wanted. The books that she’d picked up here and there were on the shelves that didn’t have some souvenirs on them. A pretty stone that she’d gotten in a national park. A pinecone she’d picked up at a roadside picnic area that she just couldn’t resist. All of these things and the rest were all labeled and dated. When someone came to get her home someday, she knew that her dad would enjoy these bits of her trip. And the pictures on her computer were all in files as well. She’d been sending him emails with them attached when she had service. Beth was pragmatic about things, she thought. She was going to die, that was a done deal. But she wasn’t going to wallow in self-pity, nor was she going to roll over and let it take her. She was going out doing the things that she wanted. Just the way her dad had taught her to be. Happy to the end. It was nearly nine when she decided to call home. If her mom answered she’d never get to speak to her dad, and Beth was disappointed when she picked up the phone. After telling her several times that yes, she was taking her medicine, and sure she was resting and eating well, her mom started in on where she was and how they could meet her there. “We bought a camper like yours the other day. It’s very beautiful. The same color and everything. It’ll be hard to tell us apart when we’re in the campgrounds together.” Beth felt her belly churn up. “You father thought it was a bad idea, but I told him that if you needed us, we should be ready. So we’re ready for you to tell us where you are so we can join you. Of course, you’ll have to wait there for us. It would be silly for you to go on and us not be with you, after all the trouble we’ve gone to.” “Mom, why did you make Dad buy a motor home when I told you that I wanted to do this on my own?” Her mom said she’d done no such thing. “You said he didn’t want to but you told him to. Sounds to me like you made him.” “Well, if you’re going to be nasty about it, Bethany, perhaps you should just come on home and we can settle this here and not shouting at each other on the phone.” She told her that she wasn’t coming home. “I think that’s a wonderful idea, now that you mention it. I nearly forgot that it was Christmas in a few weeks. Either come home, so we can be together as a family, or we go there. It’s up to you, dear. It’s not that difficult for you to give me directions, is it? I’ll have your father map them out too, just to make sure we can get there in a reasonable time. You know how he is. But I’m thinking that if you come

back here, that would be wonderful too. You’ve been gone for so long. Also, I tried to get your things out of storage but the man in charge said no. He even called the police on me, if you can believe that. You’ll have to tell him that it’s all right for me to get in there. That way, when you get back here, everything will be just how you want it.” “No. I don’t want you bothering my things. I’m not coming back there, and for sure you are not going to come here. I know how you are, as does Dad. Mom, I’m not going to let you know where I am, nor am I going to do whatever else you have on that list in your head that no one messes with. I’m going to do this on my own, in my own way.” Her mother laughed then, that twittering sort of laughter that made her think her mom was humoring her. “Mom, can I speak to Dad? Please?” “He’s busy tinkering with the motor home. I told him that he should just let someone who knows what they’re doing mess with things, but he gets something in his head and he won’t stop until I have to make him.” Beth heard some paper moving around. “Now, I have a map and paper right here. Tell me what state you’re in and I can figure out from there how we can—” “Mom, Dad is an engineer. I’m pretty sure that he could do a better tinkering job than most of the people who actually built that thing could.” Her mom huffed. “I’d very much like to speak to Dad. I want to find out what you did to him to make him do this for you.” “What a thing to say to your own mother. You make it sound as if I stand over him with a whip and order him about.” Beth said she did. “I don’t know what you’re on right now, but you’ll not talk to me that way, Bethany. I am your mother. And don’t think I’ve not noticed that I don’t have that address yet.” “I know that you’re my mom. And he’s my dad. Now put him on the phone or I’ll hang up and you’ll not know what the doctor said to me.” There wasn’t any doctor, and she had no different news than she’d had six months ago. But her mother lived on having as much information as possible on her illness, as she called it, so she could tell all her friends. Beth was sure that every person in any place her mother went knew as much about her heart condition as her own doctor did. “Mom?” “I don’t think you’re being very civil to me, Bethany. And as soon as we get there, I’m going to make sure you realize how badly you hurt me. If you want to talk to your father, then fine. There is no reason for you to get snippy with me.” She heard the phone slam down on something hard and smiled. Beth was sure that, even though they had a cordless phone in every part of the house, her mom never went beyond the five or so feet from the base that she had done when there had been corded phones in the house. And Beth would bet all her money on the fact that it would never have occurred to her to take the cordless out to her father so that she could speak to him. Then when they were finished using the phone, no matter where they were when that occurred, she would put it right back in the cradle like she had always done before. “Hello, baby girl. How is life treating you?” And just like that, the weight of the world was lifted off her shoulders. When she started crying, she heard him speaking again. “Oh honey, don’t cry. I’m here for you. And if you give me just a minute, I’ll talk to you in my office.”

She heard her mom telling him not to be stupid, that she would like to hear the lies he was telling their daughter and to stay right where she could hear him. Mom even told him that if he did go into his office, he’d better not shut the door. Beth smiled when she heard it shut and the lock turn. “Dad, she’s going to be really pissed at you when you get back out there.” He only laughed and asked her what was going on. “Nothing. I just heard that Mom made you buy a camper. I’m so sorry.” “Don’t be. If things keep going like this, I might just start living out there in it. It’s a nice sucker. Have you worked out how the extensions come out yet? I swear to you, things get more and more complicated than they need to be.” She’d forgotten to extend the sides again. Not that it mattered…she had more than enough room. “I got the propane tanks filled today. Then I got me a few groceries to stash in it. I didn’t tell your mother, but I got them. I got the fridge all hooked up and cold. I even installed some solar panels on the top of it so that the batteries can be charged when we’re not using them. I’m betting you haven’t even turned on the telly, nor have you used that impressive stove that it has either, have you, darling?” “No. To all of it. But I did notice that I have one, if that makes a difference. And the microwave has been wonderful for my many flavors of soup, too. But if I were you, Dad, I’d do that. You should just get up one morning while she’s in bed and take a trip. Maybe not return.” He told her that he’d think on that. “I miss you, Daddy.” “And I you too. Are you feeling all right? Taking care, aren’t you?” She told him she was, just tired a lot more. “Yes, that’s what they told us would happen. You just take it easy. Oh, before I forget, I got me a cell phone today. I’ll give you the number and you can call me. I put it on vibrate so she doesn’t know about it, but I wanted to be able to talk to you when you wanted.” After she wrote down the number, they talked for another twenty minutes. By the time she closed off the connection, Beth was exhausted. As she was getting into bed, she realized that not once did he say that he wasn’t going to take off, nor did he ask her where she was. Beth loved her parents, but her dad was her world. ~~~ Remy looked at the sky and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Every day he expected Benton to come to them, show himself off, but nothing as yet. It had been nearly two weeks since the earth had let them know that he’d risen, and in that two weeks, none of them had dropped their guard. He looked over when he heard the clash of swords, and saw that it was a near war between Nate and Skylar. Both of them had come a long way in working out their differences. Mostly he thought it was due to Rick making the man come out of his shell, but Nate now joined them in more activities, and he had just started to have meals with them. He ate a great deal all the time because of what was done to him on the other realm, but he was getting that under control as well. Whey, his own little faerie, he’d told Remy, landed on his shoulder, and Remy asked him if things were going well.

“Yes, my lord. And thank you ever so much for the greenhouse. It has cooled tempers a great deal to have something to keep busy with.” He told him that it had been Ryiah’s idea and Whey nodded. “I have a request, my lord. We should like to plan a party when the spring comes. We have not had one for a very long time, and I think it would be a good thing.” “Spring is several months away. You think you need that much time for me to approve it now?” He told him that he did. That flowers had to be ready for such an event. “I see. Well, yes, a party would be great. I was wondering about the tree. Have you found us some decorations for the big one that’s going up?” “We have. Oh, so many that will grace the tree. Some of the fireflies, they’ve said that they’d be our lights on it, and that will be a wonderful sight as well.” Remy tensed up when he saw Skylar hit the ground. “She is well, my lord. The earth, it takes good care of her should she fall again. See, even now it helps her to rise up. She will never be harmed in this play.” “I think she falls just to get me to run to her aid. What do you think?” Of course Whey disagreed with him, saying that Skylar wasn’t that mean. But when she turned and winked at them both, Remy laughed. “I think we’ve been had, Whey. My lovely mate is playing with our emotions.” “Women do that well, I think. My own bride, she is making me silly with her ways. Did I mention that the queen has picked us to work with the newborns when it is time for them to be born?” Remy nodded. He’d been told that at least twenty times an hour for the last several days. “She finally put up the list. Margo and I will be working with the roses. Such an honor, roses.” Remy had learned a great deal about flowers and faeries. First of all, not every bloom was filled with one of the tiny babes. The flower had to be kissed by a faerie that the queen had chosen. And while many worked for her, only a select few could give the flowers the babes that would eventually work for her too. Also, and this one was a shock to him as well, brownies were the babies that were forgotten or missed. Some of them would fall into the earth when the flower opened, but a great many of them would take wing as soon as the sun opened the blooms and find themselves a place to work with and for children. This was where imaginary friends came from. The brownies would live with them until the children no longer needed them. Remy wondered still if a child born of this current world would ever not need them. “I meant to ask you. When the brownies are no longer needed by the children, what do they do? I mean, they’re still around, correct?” Whey assured him that they were. “But where do they go?” “To live with the elders of your kind. There are a great many of them—the elders, I mean—that have no one but the brownies that come to visit them. Some stay until they pass on, others visit and talk with a few at a time. The brownies serve a great function in your world that humans at a certain age never know about.” Remy thought that was the nicest thing he’d heard in a long while, and told his friend that. “Thank you, my lord. Should you see one, an elder, watch how they smile for no reason. It is the brownie telling them a story so that they will not be sad.”

Remy decided that he’d make sure to thank the queen for such a service to the humans, both young and old. As they made their way to the couple that were still at play, Remy decided that he’d very much like to have a few of the little people come and live with he and Skylar. When they were finished with the war, he wanted to settle down and have a houseful of them around. Mostly to talk to—they were extremely intelligent—but also because they made him feel good. Not just physically, but also mentally. “I’ve something to show you when you have a moment.” Remy told Nate that now was a good time. “It’s my tat. The one that I was telling you about. We’re to have company. And I’m not sure what to do about it.” “What do you mean? Benton? He’s coming?” Nate shook his head and pulled his shirt over his head and turned. The tat was moving, and Remy was nearly sick with it. When it settled, he didn’t see much until Skylar pointed out that there were twelve now, not eleven on his back. “Your mate is coming? Is that what you’re telling me? Good job, Nate. You’ll be happy as—” “No, a woman is coming. Just because every other female that has come here has turned out to be someone’s mate, doesn’t mean that she’s for me. I don’t know what I’d do with a mate.” When he started to ask him again what he meant, Skylar put her hand on his arm. She told him to wait. “I’ve things to do, so I thank you, Skylar, for the lesson.” When he was gone, Remy looked at Skylar for an explanation. “He is so large, have you noticed that? And with his size comes certain things that frighten him.” It took him a moment to understand. His size would frighten most men, he thought. Then he thought of all the things that might make a mate be fearful of you. “He thinks to harm her during sex.” Even though it wasn’t a question, she told him that was it. “I don’t see him hurting her. Whatever has happened to him, he won’t harm her. He must know that it’s not possible should he even think he would.” “He’s aware of that. He won’t want to harm her, but he’s terrified that he will. He’s fearful of crushing her.” It took Remy a minute to get what she meant and his face heated. “Even after all the ways you have taken me, against any hard surface you can put me on, you still get embarrassed when I talk about sex with you? Remy, you’re a child at heart, I think.” “I’m a man that isn’t used to such talk from someone. While you and I have a healthy relationship, I try my best not to think of the rest of them having it. Aye, I know that they do, like rabbits, but I don’t think about the physical aspect of it.” When she giggled he smiled at her. “You’re such an old man. I think that’s what I love about you. How you can be so prudish one minute and like a sexed crazed animal the next?” She wrapped her arms around him and he held her to his body. She looked at his shoulder and he only just remembered they had company. “Whey, ‘tis time you found your own mate.” The little faerie laughed and said he would do just that. When he was gone, Remy lifted his mate into his arms and took them to their room. It was time to show his little woman just how sexed crazed he really was. “I love you, Rembrandt. With all that I am.” He kissed her then and felt his heart fill with her words. “When you touch me like this, even when you need it as much as I do, I

can’t think of a single reason for us to be apart. I need you as much as I do air in my lungs.” Remy thought him the luckiest man in the world. And when she kissed him, he felt his heart fill once again with her love and nearly wept with his need for her. Before he took her to the bed, he pulled her back from him just far enough to get her attention. He needed her to understand something that he’d been thinking about for days now. “I should like to have many children with you. Not to replace the ones that I lost, but to have our love bonded in a way that I never had with my first mate. She was everything to me, don’t get me wrong, but you are so much more. Watching you grow fat with a child of ours? You cannot know what that thought does for me.” He kissed her again and watched her face. “Remy, I swear to you that sometimes the words that come from your mouth are enough to melt even the coldest of hearts.” He grinned at her. “Yes, having children with you, watching you play with them and hold them, is all I think about when I’m alone. When I see you with the other children in the compound, I want to have you fill me with one of our own. To have a son or daughter would fulfill me in ways that I never thought possible, so long as you are there beside me to help me nurture and love them.” “And I shall be, my love. For the rest of all our lives.” He lifted her chin up to see her beautiful face. “We have avoided the conversation that has been haunting us for days now. Would you like to discuss it now?” “No. Not yet. I know what I want to do in my head, but not in my heart just yet.” He understood that. It was the same for him. “After. I want to talk about it after.” “All right.” Taking her to their bed, he stripped her down to her bare skin. Each part of her, every inch of her skin, was marked by some unknown magic. Kissing her now, he knew that someday they’d know what they were here for, why something had chosen them for this task. But for now, at this moment, he wanted to make love to his mate. Remy knew they had plenty of time to talk about the other. Sliding his cock deep into her, he grinned when she screamed out her first of what he knew was going to many releases. He too would enjoy her. For now, they were just a normal couple having an afternoon of fun.

Graham Emerson Wolves Release Day ( Final Book In Series ) 12/13/16

December 13, 2016December 13, 2016 Kathi BartonLeave a comment

Ramsey had given up on family and love a long time ago, and the sooner she cut all ties with them, the better off she’d be. She was good with a camera, and as long as no one knew who she was, the daughter of the powerful Ram Stockholm, she could keep her cover intact.

Graham had just finished the construction of his house and was looking for any excuse he could find to stay away from people—that included his large family. But everyone had to eat so a trip to the grocery store was necessary. He didn’t, however, have a mate on his shopping list, but there she stood—injured and panicking.

Graham was about as happy as he could be, until three cops came to his property to arrest him and charged him with murder—now the whole family was in an uproar. Graham’s world was crashing around him, he wanted to marry Ramsey, but not like this…. Can they ban together to prove his innocence before it’s too late? Find out in the final chapter of the Emerson Wolves—Graham.

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Do you know what you are to me? She shook her head as he whispered to her. His mouth was doing incredible things to her and she wanted more. Mate? Youre my mate. Do you know what that means?

Her body seemed to come alive at his words. She struggled to pull from him and he let her go, but he didn’t back off. She moved back from him as far as the wall and tried to get her mind to function again. She was not going to be his mate, not any man’s.

You have to go. I won’t bother you anymore if you do the same for me. He moved to within a foot of her and she put up her hands. I don’t want you here. Please, you can’t want me as a mate. I don’tI’m not even sure that this isn’t some ploy to get what you want. Or money. Is that it?’ She looked up at him as he started cursing.

Hunter Emerson and his brothers answered the request of a pack looking for a new Alpha and moved to Sommersville. Since they were all Alphas, Hunter didn

t have a clue that he was the new Alpha until he arrived. It didn’t sit well with him at all that a woman on pack land held herself in recluse and wouldn’t answer and pledge herself to the new Alpha. What she could be doing there on that big estate with no one around to witness, His mind reeled with the possibilities?none of them good.

Slone Morris had an understanding with the local pack?leave her alone and she’d let the pack stay on her land free of charge. It was as simple as that. She didn’t deal well with people. But the new Alpha in town wouldn’t take Fuck off for an answer.

Slone’s past threatened to rear its ugly head at every turn. There was one?someone she thought she trusted?who didn’t want the past dredged back up. He was determined to stop her at all cost?

Luke Emerson has big shoes to fill. He doesn’t know how to be a Mayor of their small town, but with the help of his assistant, Allen, he is damn sure going to give it a good try. From what little he’s seen of the town government it’s corrupt and he’s bound and determined to do something about it.

When they receive a call that Allen’s sister Jack has been critically injured in a fire, Allen falls apart. His sister is all he has left.

Luke goes with him to the hospital and as soon as Luke catches her scent, he knows she’s his mate, but the doctor is giving her less than a three percent chance to survive .

Can you save her? Luke looked over at Allen, who was staring at his sister. I know what you are. I mean, I think I know what you are. You can’t live in our town and not hear things. Are you?

Am I what? Allen looked at him, and Luke felt as if he were staring at his very soul. Neither of them blinked, and when Allen finally looked away, Luke felt as if he’d been released from a tight hug. You want to know an answer to something, then ask me. I’m not going to assume anything right now.

Luke has two choices: convert her to a wolf, or watch her die. He doesn’t even know her, but he can’t lose his mate he’s just found her. But to convert her without her permission, there could be consequences.

Addison Parker is on the run. No matter how fast she runs, or how far she travels she can’t hide from herself, or the gift she’s been cursed with. She can read people’s minds and with a touch can see into their future. That is a secret that she has learned to keep well?everyone always wanted something from her when they learned what she could do. It’s easier to avoid people all together.

Jarrett Emerson is just helping his dad and brother protect an innocent from a perverted wretch. But when a falling brick knocks Addie unconscious, she falls right into Jarrett’s arms. To his surprise he realizes that she is his mate and human…

Addie felt stupid standing there like she was and moved to the sink. Jarrett watched her before he reached for a second glass. Addie had no idea why, but she thought he was nervous. “I’m not going to pounce on you.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew that she’d made a major mistake. He turned so quickly that she backed up and hit her ass on the counter behind her. He didn’t stop there but took the two more steps to have her leaning back to look up at him.

“I’d like nothing more than to have you pounce on me.” His voice was a soft growl that had her thinking all sorts of things that had nothing to do with food. “You’re very beautiful.”

“No, I’m not.” He nodded and halved the distance between them. “You’re too close. I can’t think when you’re this close.”

Jarrett doesn’t want her to leave. If she goes, he goes with her. That’s the way it is with mates. But when a corrupt attorney has other ideas, the Emersons have to regroup to protect what they now consider their own….

Dawn Whitfield is on the run, and if her uncle catches her this time she knows he won’t just beat her…he’ll kill her. Her best bet is to keep moving, and at all cost keep hidden.

Addie Parker finds the shackled young woman and sets her up in an old house hidden from everything. And that’s where Dawn stays for eight lonely years.

Ellis Emerson is in a rut. He can’t seem to do anything right. He thinks he’s found his mate, but can’t get close enough to her to be sure… And that’s a huge distraction that’s turned their construction job from a week ahead of schedule with a huge bonus, to barely three days ahead. And when Addie asks him to assemble a small crew to fix one of her houses, his foreman, Dan, is all for Ellis getting away for a while.

Ellis finds his skittish mate hiding away in Addie’s home, but will she let her guard down long enough for him to convince her that their destiny is each other? Or will her Uncle Basil step in and finally take her prisoner again? Find out in the next installment of Emerson Wolves?Ellis.

No matter how hard she tried, Kimber Gray always seemed to manage to get knocked back down a peg or two. She was a top rate chef and graduated at the top of her class, but no matter how hard she tried no one would acknowledge it. Now, blackballed in the only profession she knew, she was a failure to the one that mattered most–her daughter, Hannah. With no recourse left to her, she’d have to grovel and beg her aunt for help.

Lee Emerson was glad to be back home for a while. He loved what he did, being a food critic and helping failing restaurants was a dream job come true. But he was tired of the traveling and just wanted to take care of things around the house and relax for a change.

Slone, Hunter’s mate, wanted to open a fancy restaurant and have Lee run it. He wasn’t so sure about that, but he’d love nothing better than to hire that chef that had prepared the last meal he’d had in France before he left. It was the best meal he’d ever eaten, and he had been disappointed when he found out the man had left before he could tell him so. The slush claiming to cook the meal, wasn’t the cook and he’d bet his last dollar on it.

Kimber had had it. Her aunt had gone too far this time, and there was no way she’d expose her little girl to such meanness again. They’d live on the street first, and she was trying to tell Slone that she wasn’t a charity case. That she could provide for her daughter somehow, when the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen cornered her, snarling that he’d protect her with his life.

Ah, hell no. Who in the hell did he think he was?

EMERSON WOLF SERIES –

1. HUNTER – http://smarturl.it/hunteremersonwolves

2. LUKE – http://smarturl.it/lukeemersonwolves

3. JARRETT – http://smarturl.it/jarrettemersonwolves

4. ELLIS – http://smarturl.it/ellisemersonwolves

5. LEE – http://smarturl.it/LeeEmersonwolves

2016

Mystery Signed PaperBacks

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Hello! My name is Kathi Barton and I’m a award winning, best selling author of dark fantasy erotic paranormal romance . I have been married to my very best friend Paul, a potter, for at times seems several lifetimes – in a good way, honey. And together we have three wonderful children and then the ones we brought into the world – Paul and Dale Barton, Jason and Wendy Barton and Danielle and Ben Conklin. They have given us eight of the greatest treasures on Earth. They don’t live at home seven days a week! No, seriously, eight grandchildren – Gavin, Spring, Ben, Trinity, Sarah, Kelly, Kian and Bailee

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Prologue

“I tell you, Ram, that daughter of yours is a hoot. I just asked her what she thought of all this, and she said that the money from what was going to be tossed out when this was over could have fed an entire village for a week.” Ram Stockholm looked around the room for his daughter. “When did you speak to her? I thought her and Chad had left for their honeymoon already.” There was no way his daughter would say that about her own wedding. At least he hoped not. But she was a little stressed out right now. Christ, they’d spent a fortune on this thing, and to have her upset wasn’t going to happen. Not that his baby girl didn’t deserve it, but to say something like this to William Frank was terrible. “No, no. I meant Ramsey. To tell you the truth, Ram, I had no idea you had another child, much less one as beautiful as she is. But she’s the spitting image of you now that I think on it.” Ram wondered about Ramsey, his youngest child, as William continued. “Like I said, a beautiful little thing, but a mite outspoken. I’d wondered why you didn’t have her up there with her sister, but I’m assuming that the two of them don’t get along.” “They don’t. Where did you see her go? I’d like to speak to her.” William laughed and pointed to the large open doors at the back of the large room. “Excuse me.” If William answered him, he didn’t hear him. Ramsey wasn’t going to ruin her sisters’ day by complaining about something that was none of her business. But as soon as he stepped out on the deck to talk to her, he stilled. When the hell had she grown up? The dark blue dress she had on made the paleness of her porcelain skin almost glow. With her hair done up in one of those complicated twists, it gave her neck a gracefulness that would make most men he knew drool. She was tall too, Ram just realized, and rail thin. He cleared his throat before going out all the way. When Ramsey turned his way, Ram thought that he’d made a mistake…this could not be his child. “Hello, Dad.” Ram moved out to stand beside her. He was speechless. Not only was this his child, but she’d grown up before…well, she had. “I just talked to William. He said you were a hoot.” Ramsey looked at him, confused. “William Frank. His son is going to Yale right now. I guess you told him we spent too much on this wedding. Why would you say something like that?” “I didn’t. Well, I did, but not like that. He asked me if I was going to have an extravagant wedding like this in a few years, and I told him no. If I ever get married, I want it simple, and the money spent on all this could go to some charity to feed the hungry. There are quite a few of them right here in our own town.” She looked at him as she continued. “Deidra is pissed at me again.” “Don’t talk like that. You’re not old enough to use that kind of language.” She laughed, a harsh sound that seemed to him like she too was upset. “What did you do to her this time, Ramsey?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he knew that he’d made a mistake. But the two of them, along with Gregory, their brother, had been fighting since the day that Ramsey was brought home from the hospital, or so it seemed. He just wanted peace and quiet. He never got it when they were all together. And now that he thought about it, he’d not seen them all together in a good long time. Ramsey had been…well, he had no idea where she’d been of late. “First of all, I’m nineteen. Secondly, I didn’t do anything other than to show up here. She seems to think that I’m going to embarrass her because I’m not in the wedding party. And people—her kind, she called them—would ask questions.” Ram started to ask her why she wasn’t in the party, but Ramsey spoke again. “She didn’t ask me to be in it, if you were going to ask me. And when I asked her about it, she told me that I would never fit in. Deidra said that she wanted people in her party that were nice and beautiful, something that I’m certainly not.” “I’ll talk to her.” He would too. He thought this feuding had gone on long enough. “To be honest with you, Ramsey, I almost didn’t know who you were when I came out here. And where have you been hiding yourself? You look lovely.” “Thanks.” He nodded, then followed her when she moved to sit in one of the chairs that had been brought for people to use. The country club where Deidra’s wedding reception was being held was very accommodating. But he supposed that had to do with his money rather than who he might be. They sat there for several moments before Ramsey spoke again. “I’m leaving, Dad.” He offered to get her a car to take her home. He asked her to tell the butler that they’d be along shortly. When she looked at him with the oddest look on her face, he wondered what he’d said wrong now. He was still trying to get over the fact that she was really nineteen. “I don’t live at home, and I wasn’t planning on going there anyway. I haven’t lived there for some time now. Dad, do you know anything about me? What I do for a living? Where I live?” He was embarrassed that he didn’t know the answer to any of those things. And the worst part of it was, William wasn’t the first person to ask him about Ramsey, saying that they had no idea he had a third child. What have I done? he asked himself. And where the hell had all the time gone? Gregory was the oldest, and had gotten into college on a sports scholarship. He’d been struggling in high school, so it had come as a surprise to know that a college was willing to take him. Gregory had always been more of a player than a scholar. Now he was living at home again, with nothing to show for his six years at a very expensive and prestigious university. Deidra had been, like her mother before her, the prom queen every year since she’d gotten to junior high. Before that she’d been in countless pageants, and had won most of those as well. She was pretty, and vain enough to make them work for her. Now at twenty five she was newly married to a man that Ram didn’t like, and hated to have around for any reason. But his baby had wanted him, and he’d done everything in his power to make sure she had what she wanted…or, he supposed, what his wife had wanted for her. He’d

been involved in their lives. From the time they were old enough to enter things, sometimes even before that, he and his wife Krista had been there for them. But not Ramsey. He couldn’t remember a single moment, sports event, or even a play that he’d gone to for his youngest child. “I’ve never…I’m sorry to say, I don’t know any of those things.” He looked away from her knowing face and continued. “I can’t remember one single play that we attended that you were in. Not a game of any sort that you might have been in. Nor do I remember having any sort of graduation party when you got out of school last year.” He looked at her then. “I’m drawing a blank as to what I got you for your sixteenth birthday. What I got you for your eighteenth or any in-between, and I haven’t the slightest idea what you’ve been up to since you got out of school.” “I graduated from high school six years ago. So no, you didn’t have a party for me. I think that Deidra said it would mess up her summer plans with her friends or something like that. I just finished up my last year of college last month, and I’m nearly done with my master’s degree as well. I moved out when Mom told me to because I was bothering Deidra too much and it was getting on her nerves. That would have been right after I turned seventeen and was nearly finished with college. I work for….” She stood up and he did as well. “It doesn’t matter now. But I’m going away. And…I have a job opportunity and I’m going to take it.” “Going away to where? And what are you going to do for this company?” Her laugh hurt him. “Ramsey, I’m so sorry. I wish I could tell you that I do remember all of this, but I don’t want to lie to you. I feel like this is all my fault. Don’t leave. Please. I’d like for you to move back home and for us to get to know one another. It’s not too late, is it?” “You mean because Deidra is gone now, you wouldn’t mind me being there?” Ram felt as if she’d stabbed him in the heart. But if she thought that she’d hurt him, he couldn’t see it on her face. And it was nothing less than he deserved. “No thanks. I think…I think that after all this time, it would just be an embarrassment for all of us.” “Ramsey, let me make this up to you. Please don’t go like this. I’ve messed up badly, but this is…we’re family, after all.” She only stood there with her back to him. Ram wanted to take her into his arms and hold her, but he didn’t know how. In all honesty, he didn’t remember a single time when he’d hugged his baby. “Will you at least call me sometimes? Weekly?” “I don’t know. I’ll try.” She turned then and looked at him. “My plane leaves at six in the morning. I’ve taken care of my house and all my bills, so there is no reason for you to be bothered by that. And I’ve sold off all the things that I no longer need. So…well, I guess this is goodbye for a while.” As she walked away and out of his life, all Ram could think about was that he’d wasted a lot of his life and hers not getting to know her. It both saddened him and made him hate himself that he’d done this to her. Not just him, but all of them had. Sitting down on the chair again, he thought of all the times he and his wife would talk about Deidra and Gregory. What they were doing. How they were doing in school. Conversations about Ramsey were few and far between. And worse yet, when they did speak of her, mostly his wife, it was about how she was nothing like them and how she’d never fit in

properly with them. That if she were more like her brother and sister, perhaps they’d take her to more places. Ram would never forgive himself. ~~~ Ramsey drove home wondering if she’d done the right thing. Her original plan had been to simply leave without telling them, but then her dad had come out to talk to her and she’d told him. It wouldn’t be like them to miss her or anything. In fact, she was pretty sure that not one of them would have given her a second thought. But her dad had hurt her, and she thought that she wanted to hurt him back for a change. Well, she was sure she had, and herself as well. Going into her little house, she thought of the cases that she’d packed over the last week. She had no idea if she’d be back here again, but really couldn’t see any reason to return. So what she didn’t put into storage—and she’d stored very little—had been given away, sold, or just donated to whoever had wanted it. Which again, wasn’t all that much. She’d sold her house the week before, and had thirty days to leave before the new owners would be taking it. Ramsey had already sold most of her furniture, and all she had left was the bed that she’d been sleeping in and a single dresser. There were no mementos in the house that she was taking. No pictures of her family because she didn’t have any, and there were no pets in her life. Ramsey had made such a tiny footprint in her life so far, and she was looking forward to making more. Putting all her cameras away except the one that she’d taken to Deidra’s wedding, she made her way to the darkroom. Her plane didn’t leave until late tomorrow night, but she’d told her dad differently because she didn’t want him to think they could get together beforehand. Ramsey had meant nothing to them before this, and she saw no reason to try and cram a lifetime of conversations and hugs into her last day. Neither of them would be very comfortable with that, and she was pretty sure it would piss off her mother. The woman had never really liked her, not even as a child. Ramsey had long since given up on trying to do something that would get her noticed, and had gone on with her life as if they’d never been a part of it. The pictures that she’d taken at her sister’s wedding were all on a clip, and she ran them through the computer to see which ones she wanted to print. While it downloaded them onto the hard-drive, she went to change into more comfy clothes. Ramsey had no idea if her sister would ever see the pictures that she’d taken, or even if she’d want them. Sending them to her father, she decided suddenly, was the best way to get them to her, and she hoped that he’d at least look. The camera, or what she could do with it, was her passion. Just as she was hanging the last of the prints up to dry, Ramsey heard her phone ringing. Turning on the lights overhead, she made her way to it as she dried her hands. She knew who it was before she picked it up, and decided that as soon as possible she was going to change her number. This guy was a pain in the ass. And if he’d known who she was and who he worked for, he’d back the fuck off. “I just heard that you’re leaving. When did this take place? I’d very much like to have you come in before you leave, Miss Holms. The job that I have for you is still open.” Ramsey looked through the mail as he continued talking, wondering if the change of her

name when she worked was enough to distance her from her family. “I have a noon opening, and also one at two. Which one can I put you down for?” “Neither.” He laughed a little on the other end. Ramsey put the mail, mostly credit card applications, in the trash and pulled a paper bowl from the sleeve to have some cereal. “I really have to go, Mr. Carter. I have things to do.” “Wait. This is the job of a lifetime, Miss…can I call you Ramsey? This is the job of a lifetime. This is a large paper and very prestigious. Think of what doors it could open for you in the long-term.” She didn’t answer him but yawned. “Ramsey, tell me what I need to do to have you come here and work for us.” “There is nothing you can do. I do not want to work for you. I have a job, one that I wanted and worked hard for. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to find someone else.” She hung up as he was speaking. Then when she was sure that he wasn’t going to be on the other end, she put a block on his number and sent it directly to her voicemail. He’d more than likely still call and fill up the message box, but for now she was happy. The stupid man worked for her father, as he owned the paper that Mr. Carter thought she should come to work for. And not only that, but the job that he wanted her to take? She’d been doing it all the way through college to make ends meet. It had always surprised her that not once in all that time had she ever run across her family. After making sure that everything was turned off in the darkroom, she made her way to her room after eating the last of her cereal. The bed wasn’t made, of course, but she didn’t care. Taking the last of her suitcases off it, Ramsey stripped down and laid out on the messy bed. She was asleep almost immediately. Two hours later she was awake and refreshed. Taking a long hot shower, Ramsey thought of where she might be going. And when she got there, what she was going to do first. Ramsey didn’t have a job to go to like everyone thought. She’d said that to her dad to make sure he didn’t worry. Moot point, she supposed, since he’d not cared before. But she was going somewhere. Ramsey didn’t even have a destination in mind, not really, but she was going to South Africa. And she was going to take pictures of everything. And a lot of them. By six that night she had everything printed and the pictures—which she’d made extras of for her dad—in a box. Affixing a label to the box, she put it near her luggage so she’d remember to mail it. Sitting down on the floor in the kitchen, she tried to remember if she had everything she was going to need. At seven she picked up the last of her things and was headed out the door and locking it up when someone came up behind her. Lucky for him, or maybe herself, she was able to stop herself from knocking her dad on his ass. Ramsey asked him what he was doing there. “I’m a very resourceful man when I need to be, Ramsey. And I realized that if you left today, without me even talking to you once more, I wouldn’t get to see you again. I think…well, you have no reason to want me in your life, but I would very much like for you to try and have me in it.” He took the biggest suitcase from her and put it in his car. “I paid the driver that was here. I’ll make sure you get to the airport on time.”

“Why are you doing this? I thought we cleared things up last night.” She was still standing on her stoop when he came back for the other piece of luggage. “Dad? What are you really doing here?” “How about if we have dinner before you go? I know you have time. We can even eat in the airport if you want. I just…I’d like to have dinner with you before you go. I don’t deserve this chance, and Lord knows that you have every reason to tell me to go to hell, but I need this, Ramsey.” She asked him why again. “Because I need to connect with you, and will take whatever…. No, that’s not quite right. I do want to be with you tonight, but I also wanted to make sure you knew how serious I was about you calling me. I thought…I hoped that I could convince you that I love you.” “I love you too, but this is unnecessary. Besides, I was just going to grab a burger at the airport, then wait for my flight. Dad, what does Mom think about you being here?” When he looked away, she knew. “She told you not to come here, didn’t she? It’s all right, Dad. Whatever she said, I’m sure she was right.” “She said you were trying for attention. You weren’t going anywhere, but acting out because you weren’t the center of attention at the wedding. I told her she couldn’t have been more wrong. You’ve never wanted to be there before. That’s more Deidra’s style, not yours.” He took the box from her and noticed that it had his name on it. “What’s this?” “I took some pictures at the wedding and thought she’d want them. Or you might. I don’t care. I don’t even know why I took them other than I wanted to do it. It was just…I don’t understand any of this.” He laughed, and it sounded so sad that she had to brace herself when the pain tore at her heart. “You should go back home before Mom gets upset.” “She already is. And it’s doubtful that she’s going to be in any better mood from now on.” He shut the trunk of his car and turned to her. “Where are you going, Ramsey? Please let me know that much. Not that I deserve it, but I’d like to know.” “My first stop is in South Africa. The next…I don’t know. I don’t have a plan or a job. I just know that I can’t be here and not be in your lives anymore.” He nodded as if he already knew that. “Dad, it’s all right. I’ve told myself that you had the other two, and Mom has often told me that I wasn’t planned. It’s fine.” “But it’s not. It’s not fine at all. Not for me. I screwed up. Now I want to…I don’t know what I want, but I know that I want to get to know you. Start over, I guess.” Ramsey looked at the big moving van coming down the street. Going to her dad’s car, she wasn’t surprised that he opened the door for her. He was old world all the way to his little bow tie he always wore. When he got in on the driver’s side, she told him she was ready and they drove off. Ramsey tried her best not to see the van pulling up in front of her little house so they could strip out the rest of her things. The darkroom would be picked up later that day by someone from the high school as a donation to their art department. And that would be it. Everything that she’d been would be gone in a matter of hours. It would be as if Ramsey Stockholm had never been. The trip to the airport didn’t take long. Her dad asked her questions and she answered them. Not anything too personal, she realized, but he was trying. When he

parked, he took most of her luggage and she her carry-on things. He had the box of pictures under his arm, and when she asked him about that, he laughed. “I want to see them while you’re here so that I can tell you what a great job you did.” He laughed again when she told him they might be crap. “Nah, I don’t think so. I found out you’re pretty famous with your camera. I mean, you are R. S. Holms, aren’t you? I had no idea.” “No one does. And I’d like to keep it that way.” He nodded as they made their way through the line to have her luggage checked. “Those pictures aren’t your normal wedding kind of thing. Most of them are candid shots that I had fun taking. You really might think they’re crap when you see them.” “I highly doubt that. You’re quite famous as a photographer, aren’t you? The article I read about you, they don’t know who you are, do they? No one even knows that you’re a female.” She shook her head. “I’m glad I looked. I almost skipped over the article because it said you weren’t who I was looking for. Why did you change it?” “My personal life is just that. Personal. And if I put out there that I was who I am, I think any doors that would have opened for me when I started taking pictures would have been because of your last name. This is all mine, not the family’s.” She wondered if she might have hurt him again, but he smiled at her. “I wanted to do this on my own, and I did it.” “You certainly did, and I understand that.” She wasn’t sure he did but said nothing. “While our name means a great deal around the world, you just wanted to make it without my help. I’m proud of you for that.” “Thank you.” After her luggage was tagged and taken away, they decided to have dinner at one of the nicer restaurants in the place. Ramsey had about three hours before her plane took off, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to sit with her dad while waiting. He seemed to genuinely want to be with her, but she was sure that he’d get bored after a while and want to cut it short. When he ordered his dinner then she hers, he pulled out the box and opened it. The very first picture was of Deidra standing in her room with her sweat pants and tee shirt on, with her wedding gown hanging from the hook on the wall. He pulled it from the box and studied it. “That dress alone could have fed an entire village.” She laughed when he did. “I guess I’m odd when I think that the money could have been better spent. Like on a house or something. But I guess they have their own ideas of what is going to work in their own lives. What that is, I have no idea, but that’s what she said to me. I don’t care for Chad all that much anyway.” “To be honest with you, neither do I. And we did buy them a house, but…well, Chad, I found out, has a bit of a gambling problem, and I made him a deal. I’ll use what I paid for the house to pay the debt off, and he’ll be on his own.” He shook his head. “I have a feeling that this is never going to be the end of it for them. And Gregory is…well, I don’t want to talk about them right now.”

He had made his way through about half the pictures when their dinner came. Ramsey had the grilled salmon with grilled scallops on the side, plus a huge baked potato. Her dad, a steak and potatoes man, had ordered a beautiful porterhouse with the same potato with butter and sour cream. No salads for either of them. When he looked at the last picture in the box, she felt herself getting uncomfortable. He stared at the last one for so long that she wanted to ask him what was wrong with it. Her dad looked at her with tears in his eyes and she felt her heart twist. “The only family picture in the world that is half assed. You should have been in this with us. Obviously you were there. Why didn’t you join us?” She just shook her head and he nodded as if he might know. “Was it your mom or Deidra that told you to step out of the picture? I have no doubt, after this, that it could have been both of them.” “I understand why she didn’t want me there. It was Deidra’s day, not mine.” That wasn’t really what was said to her, but it was less painfully said her way. “But the picture turned out nicely, didn’t it?” “It did. I believe that these pictures are going to be much nicer than the ones we paid that man too much money to take. But I want to know. What did your mother say to you, Ramsey? I need to know.” She didn’t want to tell him. But then she thought what the hell, I’m leaving and more than likely won’t be back. “Ramsey?” “She told me it was for the family and not for upstarts like me. I started to point out that I was her daughter too when she…she slapped me. Told me that she wished I’d not been born. I unbalanced her life. Unbalanced? How did I…? I had no say in being born. Why does she say things like that to me?” She turned away from him to finish. “To be honest with you, it was the deciding factor in my leaving without saying a word to any of you. I don’t know why I even told…yes I do. I wanted to hurt you like you all have hurt me my entire life. That’s the only reason that I even told you I was going.” “I don’t know why she’d say those things to you. I really don’t. But I am glad that you told me. It afforded me this, this opportunity to see if I could patch things up—even if it is nearly too late—between us.” He pushed his plate away too. Her appetite was gone, as it appeared his was. “She said that I was a fool to try and mend the fences with you, even if that was what I was going to do. She blamed you for this and so many things that I don’t even know how she thought you were a part of. I never realized the extent of her hatred for you. Saying that all you wanted was for…well, you know what she said. All the attention. Then when I told her I was going to talk to you, she had a fit and ended up in bed with one of her headaches. I didn’t stay to listen to her anymore. Gregory said he’d keep an eye on her for me.” “She hates me, Dad.” He didn’t say anything, and for that she was grateful. The rest of the meal was spent not mentioning the family. Ramsey thought that was about as depressing as it could get. When her flight was called, he walked her to the barriers and pulled her into his arms. “I’m sorry. So very sorry, honey.” She told him not to worry about it. “I will, and I still am. But I want you to take this. It’s a credit card with just your name on it. You can…if you want to come home sometime or anything, just use it. And I have a number there

that I want you to use. It’s…well, it’s mine and mine alone. If you can’t get me that way, then use the house phone. But I want you to call me. Weekly if you can.” “I don’t need this, Dad.” He pushed it back at her when she tried to give it back. “Dad, you don’t have to do this for me to call you. I will.” “It’s not why I’m doing it. I want you to have a backup plan. A way to come home to me if you need me.” She wanted to tell him she needed him years ago, but said nothing. “I wasn’t there for you for nineteen years, Ramsey, but I want to be now.” Nodding, she was moving to the gates when he called her back. This hug she returned, and felt better when they parted ways. Ramsey cried all the way to her first stop, and got off the plane with a heavy and saddened heart.

Darcy: Harrison Ambush Release Day 11/28/16

November 28, 2016November 28, 2016 Kathi BartonLeave a comment

Brooke Rickson had been working the pottery wheel and pulling clay with her great-grandfather almost as long as she could remember. Her work was famous even though no one really knew who she was. She preferred it that way and had become a recluse since her great-grandfather died. He had left her everything.

Mac Harrison loved rare pottery, and when he landed two tickets to the big art show he was thrilled. He could get his prized Rickson pottery piece appraised and get to see new work at the same time. He brought his brother, Darcy, along for the ride.

When Darcy caught Brooke’s scent, he knew he’d found his mate. Unfortunately, the beautiful recluse made no bones about telling him that she was alone and liked it that way, and that no man was barging in and taking over her orderly life. She was living her life just the way she wanted it and that didn’t include taking orders from a man–any man. He could get that thought right out of his head….

B&N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/darcy-kathi-s-barton/1125200486?ean=2940156907700

Amazon USA https://www.amazon.com/Darcy-Harrison-Ambush-Shapeshifter-Romance-ebook/dp/B01N0CEDCZ/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479779533&sr=8-1&keywords=Darcy+Kathi++s+barton

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Darcy-Harrison-Ambush-Shapeshifter-Romance-ebook/dp/B01N0CEDCZ/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1479768912&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Dracy+By+Kathi+S+Barton

I Book Coming Soon

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Riordan Harrison can’t believe it. Everyone is pissed at him and he doesn’t see what the fuss is all about. All he did was tell the woman that she was his mate. He couldn’t help it that his tiger caused him to pin the woman to the counter and she proceeded to throw him to the ground and cover him with sticky pastries. Now, no one will talk to him, including his secretary. He hasn’t claimed the woman yet, and it is all seeming like it’s more trouble than it’s worth.

Storm Browning, Stormy to her friends, is a wounded war hero. She’s done her duty and just wants to live a quiet life―run her little bakery without any hitches. The majority of the men she commanded in the war had been shifters so she wasn’t surprised when the big oaf sniffed her out claiming that she was his mate. But that doesn’t mean she has to agree with it. What else could she do? He had to go. He’d hightail it and run anyway when he saw her scars―they all did. She couldn’t emotionally handle that, not again at any rate.

But if Riordan is going to get back on everyone’s good side, he’ll have to make peace with the woman. Even though he thinks he’s innocent, he’ll go for a visit and maybe apologize, but after he gets there things go from bad to worse. Stormy is targeted for assassination and he’s in the line of fire….

Cormac Harrison, Mac to his family and friends, has a good thing going. He has a brand new home, a successful business, and is truly happy with the direction his life is heading.

Andi Collins can’t seem to catch a break. The last time she’d encountered her father, she’d ended up in the hospital. Now, Stormy Harrison, is giving her a break and helping her get back on her feet. So when this big handsome man tells her that she’s his mate she’s scared to death.

Mate. She’d heard the term before. And what it meant. She would belong to him. Not just him, but whoever he wanted to sell her to. Andi reached for the door handle, thinking that rolling from a moving car would be better than being passed around like a napkin at a banquet hall.

“Don’t do that.” He reached for her hand just as she touched the handle. “Please, just listen to me and I’ll explain.”

“I don’t need you to explain. I know what mate means. My friends at school, they told me what happens when you become a mate to men. And what they didn’t tell me, my father and aunt explained the rest. Mates use you, and then when they’ve had enough, they pass you around to all the other men they know. I won’t have it.”

The car suddenly stopped. Her seatbelt cut into her neck, and she nearly hit her head on the dash it stopped so abruptly.

Nikki Neal was damn good at her job. As an undercover cop, she had just about enough information to put the local crime boss away, but she needed more to make it stick. But when someone blew her cover, Nikki found herself on the wrong end of several guns.

Aedan Harrison was on the fast track to winning the Governor’s seat for the state of Ohio. He had his whole life, or at least his immediate future, planned out. What he didn’t need was a mate he hadn’t made plans for throwing a monkey wrench into the mix.

The last thing Nikki needed was an overbearing jackass ordering her about, and telling her how much he didn’t need her in his life right now. Well, she didn’t need him either. She had work to do and needed to get herself and her grandda to safety.

It didn’t take long for Aedan’s family to convince him in the error of his ways, and when he saw what he’d done he felt like an ass. All he wanted to do was make it right, but could he grovel enough for her to accept him?

HARRISON AMBUSH – TIGER SHAPESHIFTER ROMANCE

1. Riordan – http://smarturl.it/riordan

2. Cormac – http://smarturl.it/cormac

3. Aedan – http://smarturl.it/aedan

Mystery Signed PaperBacks

So Far are July 2016

Kerry Erickson

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Aug’s Winners 2016

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Shane’s Release News Letter winners are

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Prologue

“Here, let me show you. You have to remember, Brooke, that you weigh a bit more than that little bit of mud. Just lay your weight over it like I showed you, and center your start.” She did that, bending her body nearly in half to do it. But she was too short and couldn’t get the clay to center correctly no matter what she tried. Standing up and leaning over the wheel again, she got it to do just what she wanted. But she knew that doing it this way was going to hurt her back. Brooke looked at her grandda and asked him for some help. “Okay, so you have to stand. We can work around that.” He nodded as he took measurements of her and the height of the wheel. “Heard tell that some potters stand when they throw. Me? Can’t do it no matter how old I get. But you, I think you can make it work for you, beings that you’re young starting it this way.” It took them two weeks to get the wheel at the right height for her. Every little adjustment was written on the wall beside the kilns and then dated. They were going to get it perfect for her, and she had no doubt that she’d be throwing pots right alongside her grandda before too much longer. After a month she was pulling up the long line of clay almost as well as Grandda. He was letting her experiment with forms and some of the tools he’d made on his own too. Brooke felt like a real potter when he treated her this way…like she was his partner, not just his great granddaughter. Some of his tools were as old as her, others as old as her mom would have been had she not died. When Brooke asked him about other designs that she wanted to make, he showed her that as well. Not only how to make the small wooden tools that were as standard in a pottery shed as the clay would be, but how to use the things that were right outside their door. When she threw her first large piece, one that she was as proud of as anything she’d ever done, he stood back and looked at it. It wasn’t finished, not by long shot, but still raw, the clay only just beginning to turn leather hard. When he walked around it for the fourth time, not saying anything but really looking at it, Brooke looked too. She could see every line of it, every little finger mark, and where she had paused with the wet sponge in the process. Pausing in front of it, his hand on his cheek, she knew that Grandda was going to tell her she could do much better, which she could, and that someday she might be half as good as him. “What’s your plan? I mean, when you had that raw ball in your hand, what did it say to you?” Grandda had told her that each piece spoke to him. Even before he knew what it was going to be, the clay did. Brooke looked at the forms she’d thrown and tried to think how to tell him what she thought it said. “Come on now, you know that of all people, I’ll understand what it said.” “I’m to keep it like it is, raw for now, at least until it’s firm enough for me to work with. Then I’m to put some of the stones in it that I found in the mountain.” He nodded, still not looking at her but at the piece. “When I fire it, the clay said that the colors will be

like none other…that once we take it from the fire it’ll show a brilliance that the earth has never seen.” Grandda walked around the piece once more. It was going to be tall, about five feet with all the pieces stacked atop one another. The batts, the board that she’d used to throw it on, was still attached until it was dry enough to remove. She’d had to throw three pieces to get it the way she had seen it in her head, each of them a little different, a little wider or taller, but they would stack atop one another to get the height she knew it had to be. And it wasn’t a clean fit…the clay hadn’t allowed her to be perfect about her technique. Now, it was in its last stages of drying enough to work with, to put the final art to before it had to be put in a kiln to fire the first time. Brooke could see what stone to use as well as where it was to be put in the clay before the finally firing, the one that would bring it to life. “When you’re finished, I want to help you with it.” She nodded, hoping that he’d say that. “Not the finishing touches, but with the firing. It will take a delicate firing, slow to burn and hot. You’ll need to stay with me when we do this; the fire cannot ever cool too much or get too high. The kiln, it will need to be watched over, like the pieces that we fill it with. You willing to do that? To come and be a part of its next journey?” “Yes. I want to do this.” He nodded and looked at the piece again before turning to her. “You think it will be a nice piece? Not show quality like yours, but nice?” “Never say that it will not be perfect before you even see it. The clay, it has a heart, same as you. Otherwise why would we bother?” She nodded, not sure what he meant. “It will be what it wants to be, using you as its canvas, not the other way around. All right?” She nodded. Yes, she was the way for the clay to speak, not her to speak to it. Over the next three days she gathered her stones, laying them out in the order that she could see in her head. She’d tried to plan them out on her own, matching the colors in groups, the size of them going from smaller to larger. But her muse, her clay, wouldn’t let her finish when she tried to change the design to suit herself. The piece, it seemed, knew just the way it was to be. The day before the firing, a full month after Grandda had said he wanted to help her, he and Brooke had started the fires in the lower part of the kiln. Lucky for her there were enough pieces to fill the cave kiln. Otherwise she might have had to wait for several more months to see her finished piece. Her grandda had built the kiln in the forties when there wasn’t a kiln big enough to fire the pieces that he wanted to glaze. He designed his own anagama kiln, built right into the mountain and fed at the bottom in a continuous feeding of wood, when no builder would help him. He and several other potters, all but him now out of business, had spent the better part of a year digging out the cave and making a fire pit large enough to heat it to the right temperatures. The fuel, mostly trees felled on the property where the kiln was built, was perfect for the firings. Each different type of wood would add a chemical product to the firing that could never be duplicated. It was what made this type of firing so amazing.

They would get ash from the wood, and salts that mixed with the chemicals of the glazes would give colors that might never be seen in an electric or gas fired kiln. Even a raku firing—one where the piece was heated to a certain temperature then taken out, almost molten, to be dropped in different elements such as newspapers or straws— couldn’t compare to a wood firing. It took three days for the anagama kiln to cool enough to open; the same number of days it had taken for it to get to temperature. She went from wishing the process would hurry to just wishing that it had never been fired. Brooke was afraid of what they might find inside. There were hundreds of pieces in the large kiln that had been brought in by local potters, schools, as well as people just starting out in this sort of media. Some of them had brought their work to them months ago, others just that morning. Things had been busy getting the kiln loaded. Grandda’s rule was, you want it fired, then you help with the firing. Which meant chopping wood, loading the pottery, staying up when it was your turn to stoke the fire, as well as help out with the food. There was always plenty of that latter to go around too. Pieces would be put in, sitting on the steps up the high hill, stacked on large shelves, or even buried in the dirt so that the effect would, hopefully, be amazing. The heat would reach each piece, while the fumes, some of them noxious, would be vented out of the top, nearly at the top of their mountain. Each piece had been marked because sometimes months would go by and they’d have to remind the person that their pieces were ready to be fired. Brooke had met a great many famous men and women when they’d come to their farm to party with their grandda during a long firing, and had remained friends with them long after. Brooke knew that it wasn’t going to be a quick firing, as he’d told her slow and delicate. And when they were satisfied that they’d done all they could for the pieces, not just hers but all pieces in the kiln, they let the flames slow to a low burn for another day, then let it die all together. All they could do now was wait. Upon opening the great door, there were shattered pieces just inside the doorway. Broken shards of pottery, some of it melded to another piece of work and ruining both the pieces of art. Walls of pottery were still too hot to touch, while others had cooled enough to be removed with heavy asbestos gloves. Brooke tried to avoid the area where her pieces were sitting. Her piece, her first art piece, was in the middle, still some feet from where they’d entered. “You know, child, that not all of my pieces make it out of here. This is the worst kind of torture for an artist, to find that something happened in the firing and it’s all for naught.” She told him that she understood that, but she’d still be disappointed. “As you should be. It’s a fine piece you put together. I hope we can display it in the store in town.” It would be an honor for her to have her work displayed in the store, Brooke knew this. But no one, except a select few, would ever know that it was hers. It was the way her grandda had lived his artistic life, and the same way she would live hers, she’d decided. Being famous, she’d always believed, had gotten her mom nowhere but dead, and that was enough limelight for her.

She saw the first of the three pieces sitting just where she’d put it. Walking slowly to it, Brooke held her breath until she saw the second one. It too seemed to be all right; no pieces had been broken around it, and hers had survived and not exploded onto someone else’s. Then she stood over the third. “Brooke?” Grandda stood beside her as they looked at the pieces. They were all complete, with nothing touching them. Her first piece had fired well. “We can’t take it out just yet, a couple more hours. Have to be careful yet that it don’t get a cool breeze, either.” Stacking the pieces up in the store had been more than she could have hoped for. The stones had lent a natural element to the piece that she hadn’t seen in her visions of it done. Some of them had melted just a little, leaving the holes that she’d set them in with a beautiful watery dripped look. The glazes that she’d sprayed on it before putting it in the kiln had given the piece a matt look in some places, and a bright shiny glaze in others. The ash from the wood along with the salt from the mountain had also changed many of the colors to be entirely different than the clay had told her about. Matching the stones and other elements on it had given it a very earthy look. Brooke was so proud of it that she’d taken several pictures and had them printed and framed. The piece stood in the front of the store for two weeks. People had come in asking how they’d found such a wonderful Rickson piece. She’d had so much pride in those comments that she’d taken to putting a penny in a jar each time she heard it. It wouldn’t ever be much, but it was something akin to having them know it was her. The price on it, only a token one really, tripled what she wanted for it, had she really wanted to let it go. Brooke had no plans to sell it, so when a man had come from some large pottery shop and paid her price, she was both excited and sad at the same time. But the money had gone to getting more supplies for their shop, and she’d had her first piece sold. It wouldn’t always be that way, she knew this, but now she had a goal, a bigger one than before the sale. To make enough money to pay for her own supplies, as well as a part of the monthly bills on the shop. Brooke knew she was well on her way to becoming someone her grandda could be proud of. But she also knew that no matter what she did or didn’t do, her grandda would love her with all his heart.

Drew Justice Series Release Day & Giveaway 11/14/16

November 14, 2016November 14, 2016 Kathi BartonLeave a comment

Drew: Justice Series

Paranormal Erotic Romance

Ryder Mackenzie didn’t remember much about what happened to her. All she knew was she hurt in more places than she could remember. Mac barely remembered going over the falls and hitting the rocks below to save the little girl. But now that she’d been to the other side, the ghosts wouldn’t leave her alone.

Drew Mullins was a haunted man, quite literally. His mother tortured him as a child and seemed bound and determined to continue doing so seventeen years after her death. Drew, being a necromancer, was having a hard time avoiding her because she didn’t know she was dead.

Between Mac having the little girl’s father haunting her and Drew dealing with his mother’s ghost, they both were a mess. But in each other they found what had been missing in their lives—love.

But when the thirst for revenge heats up, can Steele and his group find a solution? At least one where no one else ends up dead?

B&N Coming Soon

Amazon USA https://www.amazon.com/Drew-Justice-Erotic-Paranormal-Romance-ebook/dp/B01M6BR4PY/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478549716&sr=8-1&keywords=kathi+s+barton

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drew-Justice-Erotic-Paranormal-Romance-ebook/dp/B01M6BR4PY/ref=sr_1_5_twi_kin_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478549836&sr=8-5&keywords=kathi+s+barton

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PaperBack http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1125126274?ean=9781629895840

Steele Bennett was born with a gift, but he sees it more as a curse―he can see and speak with spirits. And when he loses his twin sister at seventeen, he wants to turn his back on life―block his heart so that he never has to feel the sharp pain of loss again…

The small bar Kari Briggs runs is failing fast. She hasn’t seen the owner in three months, past due notices are piling high, and her last paycheck bounced twice. And if she doesn’t pay the delivery guy soon, there’ll be no more supplies.
She has trouble enough controlling her cat, so the last thing she needs tonight is trouble. But those guys at the bar won’t listen and take it outside. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she is shocked when a tall stranger grips her arms from behind and her cat wants to roll over and purr.
From the moment Steele touches her, she knows he’s her mate. And Steele thinks he can just get her out of his system with sex and a lot of it―he won’t mark her and she can’t mark him―no permanent attachments. But that’s not how it works with a shifter, she will die if her cat can’t get what she needs from him. She will love him because she has no choice―he is her mate―but that is a secret she is willing to take to her grave…

Nick Stark had known Addison West for quite some time. Although they’d never met in person they shared the same nightmare?both were unwilling participants. However, through these dreams they had formed a bond between them. And a telepathic connection. So when out of the blue, Addie contacted Nick and told him she had seen some things that she shouldn’t have and she was next on the killer’s list, Nick didn’t hesitate to come to her rescue.

Nick had known for some time that Addie was to be his?why else would they share the same dream? But he was in no hurry to form emotional attachments. Never having much in the way of a decent family life, he didn’t know much about love. And with the deep emotional scars he bore from an abusive childhood, he didn’t want to bring that burden onto another soul?especially Addie.

Addie had her own baggage. Her father had been forcing her to marry an abusive man?he told her it was her duty as his daughter to obey him. Addie wasn’t having any part of it, so she ran…. She had been hiding for the last five years.

Nick may not have wanted any attachments but he couldn’t ignore the beauty he’d rescued. But there were things he had to tell her…about all of them…about Steele Bennett’s group. He wasn’t sure how she fit into all this….

Mitch Riley was a haunted man, and being a necromancer didn’t have much to do with what haunted him. A troubled childhood left him withdrawn and short tempered, so when he received a summons that he was being sued by the foster parents who had abused him, he didn’t take it well at all. And their attorney? None other than a vamp. There was nothing much worse than a vamp in Mitch’s opinion.

Victoria Graham, or Vinnie her mother had nicknamed her, wasn’t expecting the man her clients were suing to be her mate, and a necromancer. She would have refused the case had she known she’d be walking into a den of necromancers. She had grown up on horror stories that necromancers were the one thing that could kill her kind, and it was clear the man hated her very existence…. But when he touched her, she’d lost control of her magic…and her mind too apparently.

Landon Logan is a man haunted by a tragedy that he blames himself for but didn’t do. No one can convince him otherwise–especially his well-meaning Grandda who happens to be dead. Landon is a necromancer.

Dillon Malone has a few abilities of her own. She can “find” things by touching the owner or touching something the owner has touched. This makes her a wanted woman.

Landon is so angry at his good-for-nothing parents that he storms out of their house with their maid in tow. Dillon is happy to leave with this brooding young man and soon discovers that the handsome hunk is her other half.

Dillon’s happiness is short lived when her past reaches out to bite her, and she and Landon become pawns in her father’s evil scheme. When Dillon’s father has Steele’s new baby kidnapped, all bets are off.

JUSTICE SERIES

1. Steele – http://smarturl.it/steele

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4. Landon – http://smarturl.it/Landonjusticeseries

5. Drew – http://smarturl.it/Drewjusticeseries

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Chapter 1

Addie put the phone back on the hook and sat down. Since she’d gotten up she’d been trying to reach out to her friend, Mac, and hadn’t gotten a single answer, or a call back when she left her messages. She was coming here in a few days, to hang out with her and to meet her new friends. But now, trying to get in touch with Mac and not having any success made her worry. Something was wrong, she just knew it. Going to find Nick, she wasn’t surprised to find Landon and Steele in the office with him. Nick stood up when she entered the room and gave her his seat. The man was a constant worry wart, especially since she’d found out she was expecting. She wasn’t sure she could make it the last few months without bashing his head in. “Here, honey, please have a seat. And put your feet up on the stool. Did you get in touch with her?” Addie told him that she’d not as she sat down in his chair, but she didn’t put her feet up. There was only so much pampering she could take right now. “I know that you’re worried. I think you need to call her place of business. Didn’t you tell me she works for some sort of boating company?” “Extreme. And she doesn’t just work for them, but owns the company. Few people know that. I’m pretty sure not even the people that work for her are aware they work for her, not just with her. But, no, I’ve not called yet. I wanted to ask you first. I don’t want her to think I’m over protective of her. She accused me of that in college when we were younger.” Addie rubbed her growing belly as she continued. “It’s not like her to not call me back. I know that it’s silly, but I’m afraid something has happened to her. But I don’t want to feel stupid for calling her work and embarrassing her. Do you understand?” “Call them.” When Steele nodded in agreement with Nick, she thought she’d do it. But later. “No, not later, now. Call them and ask where she is. You know that you’re not sleeping well worrying over this. She will get a good laugh out of it and so will you, but you won’t worry any more. Just go ahead and call and see what might be going on. It might be something simple, like her phone is down or something like that.” Getting up, she went to her own office. If she was going to feel stupid for calling for no reason other than Mac was really busy, she’d rather do it where no one could hear her. Picking up the phone and dialing the number she’d memorized yesterday, she wasn’t surprised when the answering machine picked up. But she was no less worried either. “Hello. You’re going to think this is really silly, but I’m trying to get in touch with Ryder Mackenzie. Mac. She goes by Mac. Anyway, my name is Addie Stark and she was supposed to call me back and—” “Hello? Don’t hang up. Please, just hang on while I try to turn this off.” The woman, she thought it was Sandy Miller who worked for Mac, cursed a few times as buttons were pushed. “I’m not very good at this thing. Mac usually…please call back if I hang up on us.” After telling the woman that she would, the line went dead. Addie sat there for several minutes trying to reason with her fingers to dial the numbers again when it rang. Picking up the phone carefully, she heard more cursing and knew it was Sandy again.

“I’m so sorry. I’m not the office type. Cameras yes, but…I just came in here to pick up the money and heard you. There’s nobody around to help me out on this thing.” Addie told her it was all right. “Mac is…She’s in the hospital, has been since yesterday late. Mac is…I mean she…they don’t really expect her to make it. She took a terrible fall over the falls near where she lives, and…and…poor baby….” The sobbing was what got her. The woman was sobbing so hard that it sounded as if she were tearing her heart out. Addie felt her own eyes fill with tears, then run over as she thought of her friend lying dead. Mac was such a vibrant and full of life woman. Knowing that she was hurt and might not make it…well, Addie knew that she’d feel it forever if she were to pass. Her sorrow became more as Sandy told her what she knew. “She’d told me she was going on home, and I never thought no more about it until I heard the scanner going off and her telling them that she had three in the water. A little kid, she said. They didn’t have any life jackets on them, so…oh, that poor little thing. I turned the cameras around to find her and saw it. Just saw that kayak go right over with her hanging onto that child. I think there was some man trying to help her save the girl, but…well, he died too. Mac said that…she said that she was going after her. I knew as soon as I heard there was a little one involved that she’d go and try and save her. But those falls, even for someone like her, experienced and all, they’re a bit much, especially this time of year. She and that little girl went right over, and I never saw them again until I made my way to the hospital.” Addie was crying hard now, knowing that Mac would hurt herself to save anyone, but especially a little kid. As the story unfolded, Addie could almost see it happening. “Those people on the raft, they were all screaming at the police when they got there. Took them a good five minutes to get them calmed enough to tell them where she’d gone over. By then…well, it was damned near too late for all of them.” “The child, is she all right?” Sandy said that she was broken up pretty good, but was expected to make a full recovery. “And the others, what happened to them?” “Both parents are gone. The mister, Adam was his name, he broke his neck. They think he might have been dead before he ended up on the bottom of the falls, but we don’t know for sure. His wife Cindy, little Becky’s mother, she drowned. Again, they don’t know for sure when that happened. Like I said, them falls, they’re unforgiving if you don’t know how to run them.” Addie wanted to ask about Mac’s injuries, but was afraid to. But Sandy spoke before she could. “Mac was beaten up, near dead when they got to her. Her head was split open by the rocks, and they’re worried about what sort of damage…they’re worried about brain damage. Broke both her arms and crushed her leg. The doctor told me that she’d be lucky if she walked again without a cane. Then he broke down. Imagine that, a doctor breaking down, and he told me that she wasn’t going to live out the night, not the way she was right now. That was…she’s my little girl and she’s been hanging on since. They had to…I won’t let them just let her go. She’ll never forgive me for doing that. Not one to hang on, she told me more than once. But they brought her back for us. The staff there at the critical care, they don’t…I don’t know what I’m supposed to do without her. She’s all I have…I love her like my own.”

“I’m coming there.” Addie stood up, then sat down when she thought of what she had to do. “I’ll be there in the morning if not tonight. Can you find me a place to stay? Please? I need to be there for her.” “Oh honey, that would be wonderful for us. Me too. Yes, that’s good. Yes, of course you need to be here. And I’d like that too. She talked of nothing else but seeing you. It’s why I picked up the machine. And you come on out here. You can stay in her place if you want. It’s a big place, but she loves it. That pup of hers will be more than glad to see someone besides me.” Addie wasn’t sure about a puppy. All she cared about right now was seeing her friend and maybe trying to figure out a way to bring her around. “I’ll have someone pick you up at the hangar. Not much of an airport, but we make due.” Addie hung up a few minutes later, after taking notes on not only where to go but how to get to the house if she ended up staying there. Still not sure what she was going to do once she got there, Addie went to find Nick. She was leaving right now if she could arrange it. ~~~ Drew wandered around the house again, ending up near his own room. He wasn’t sure yet what he was supposed to do with his new house, but he was making headway, he thought. The house was so big that at times he felt smothered by it. Stupid he supposed, but that was the feelings he got. And if he was honest with himself, he wasn’t sure he liked this place. It was…dark, he thought, was a good word for it. Dark and not suited to him at all. Anna, his cook, and right now the only person he saw much of, was in the kitchen for the most part while he was there, and he’d finally convinced her to stay in the pool house instead of driving back and forth every day. Most days they both ate in the kitchen, as he just couldn’t stand the thought of her carrying what food she thought was good for him between the dining room and the kitchen like he was something special. Smiling at that thought, he went out onto the deck that was off his bedroom. It was the one thing he’d loved about the house. The way the deck, all covered and filled with the most comfortable furniture, seemed to invite a person to come and have a seat. Kick off their shoes, as he had done when he’d sat down, and relax. He wondered if the previous owners of the house, Landon’s parents, had ever had an occasion to relax at all between stealing from people and making everyone’s life hard. He supposed that he should have taken the master suite when he moved in. But it was bigger by far than one floor of his other home. Not to mention he had yet to go through the personal things in the room, and Landon had told him there was nothing there he wanted of his parents. He guessed he could hire someone to do it, but he had no idea how to even begin that task. Putting his feet up on the stool that matched the rest of the furniture, he looked out over the wooded area behind his house. The deer came out about now, and he had made it a habit when he was home to watch them. It was relaxing, and he never thought much when he watched them romp and play. Yesterday there had been a small one with them, and he had enjoyed watching it get its feet under it. The buck, a big boy with about a dozen points, just watched him. Drew wondered if he’d learn to trust him soon.

“Drew?” He looked up at the sound of his name, afraid, not for the first time since he’d moved in when he heard his name in such an unfamiliar place. Instead of being his mother coming to haunt him again, it was Anna. “Are you all right, sir? I didn’t mean to startle you like that. I said your name a couple of times.” “It’s fine. My fault entirely. I’m all right, I promise. You just…I was startled, that’s all. What is it I can do for you?” She looked out over the woods then back at him. He knew that she thought him a little off. If she only knew how off he really was, she’d more than likely go running into the woods to get away from him. “I was watching the family of deer that come around. They have a way of making even the worst day nicer with their ways, don’t you think?” “Yes, I think so as well. I saw them as well two nights ago, and slept better knowing they were here for some reason.” He waited for her to continue, and thought perhaps she was telling him she was quitting. “There’s someone here to see you. Miss Vinnie and Miss Addie. They’re in the parlor. I told them you’d be along shortly. I can tell them you need a few moments if you’d like.” “No. I’ll come along now. Thank you. And if you have any cookies, I know that Addie loves them.” She blushed and told him she had some, and some scones too if she was of a mind to try them. “I’m sure that she’d love that. Thank you.” Drew knew that Anna was aware of what they all were. Vinnie was a vampire, and Kari, Steele’s wife, was a panther shifter. Then there were the rest of them, all necromancers with a little extra that came in handy when they worked. As he made his way to the big room, he wondered what they needed. Right now he’d do just about anything to stem the boredom. He’d never been one to sit idle, because the memories invaded even his waking thoughts. And since he was off for the rest of the week, he had to find something to do or go nuts…well, nuttier. Entering the room, he smiled at them as if he had not a care in the world. Addie was adorable with her belly starting to show. She was about four months now, and he could see that she was extremely happy. So was Nick. All he ever talked about was the new baby. Drew was sort of jealous of him getting that experience, as he knew that he never would. “Ladies. Have you come to help me figure out the house? I sure could…. What’s happened?” He could tell by their faces that something was wrong, and he immediately thought of the men that he worked with. He sat down when Vinnie stared to pace. Whatever it was, it wasn’t going to be good. “Nick is going away on a call, as I’m sure you know, and we’re in sort of a pickle. I’ve always wanted to use that phrase. Anyway, we need your help.” He nodded at Addie, knowing from the call this morning that the others were going to be awhile. And they wouldn’t let him go to them. It was a new rotation thing they were doing, so that they could spend more time with families and not be so burnt out all the time. One week off, two on was how it had been set up. Drew hated it. “There’s been an accident with a friend of Addie’s. She needs to go there and…it’s not good.” Drew asked Vinnie what he could do. “I can watch over her in the evenings,

but the day time, I can’t as you well know. Can you come with us? Nick said that he’d rather we both went rather than her be alone during the day.” “You know I’ll do anything for you guys.” He would, too. “When do you want to leave? I’m assuming now. All I need to do is throw a few things into a bag and I’m set.” “Yes, that would be wonderful. We have the plane on standby. I don’t know how long we’ll be gone…my friend, Mac, she was hurt pretty bad when her kayak went over the falls while she was…while she was trying to rescue a little girl. She…the little girl’s parents drowned and…I need to be with her; Mac, not the child.” “I’ll go and pack now.” He stood up and then moved to the door just as Anna was coming in with a tray of cookies and tea. Drew asked them to let her know what was going on as he left them to pack up. Tossing things into his duffel, he thought of the friendship that he had with these people. All of them were family, and he’d do just about anything they asked of him when they needed him. He didn’t share with them most of the things going on in his life as they did. He trusted them, but not with knowing his secret. It was bad enough that he had had to live through what his mother had done to him; he didn’t think he could stand to see their pity when they looked at him. Drew had always been a very private person, and it hadn’t changed much when he became an adult. He wondered if they thought of him as a friend, as someone they could trust, and thought perhaps they did. He worked with the men on the team, and he liked them a great deal. But he was a loner. He didn’t like it very much, but it was all he knew. Keeping busy was what kept him from thinking, and thinking was a dangerous thing for him. His childhood and his life had made him that way. He’d always been alone, and deterred people from asking too many questions. Questions that Drew didn’t want to answer. Then there was the added fact that he was scarred. Not just in his mind, but his body as well. Badly. Mostly the worst of them were on his back and the back of his legs; the ones on the rest of his torso were faded, as they hadn’t been nearly as bad. It was what caused him so much pain when he got up in the morning or after standing or sitting in one position for too long. And long ago he knew that if he didn’t kick the pain pills he’d be as drugged up as his mother had been most of her life. Drew didn’t want to end his life that way. So now, he simply suffered. Andrew? His entire body stiffened at the sound of the voice. It was distant, but he knew it anyway. Turning slowly around the room, he looked for his mother, only to find himself alone in the big bedroom. But he knew as surely as he was standing there, she was close. Andrew, where the hell are you, boy? Not answering her seemed the best way to keep her at bay. Stuffing the rest of his things in the duffle, he tried to think what he had to do to rid himself of her if she found him again. The need to have her banished, kept away from him, nearly took him to his knees. Even after all she’d done to him and continued to do to him, she was still his mother. But even as he zipped up the bag and headed out, he knew he was never going to be able to make his mother go away forever. Because he was still that ten year old little boy.

“Are you ready?” Telling Vinnie that he was, she looked at him oddly. He wondered if she could see his mother, or if any of them could, and that made him feel exposed. He hadn’t thought they could, but with Vinnie, who knew? And he was hard pressed to ask her if she could or not. But Vinnie only turned and went to his front door, met there by Anna. Drew thought about asking Vinnie for help with his mom, but didn’t. Fear and pride made him keep his mouth shut. “I packed some cookies and tea for the trip. I know that your plane must have all these things, but I so worry about you.” Anna gave him the large plastic container, filled to the top with cookies and wrapped scones, and the thermos of tea. “Sugar is there, as well as cream if you need it. Not sure how the rest of you take your tea.” After she hugged Addie and Vinnie and left them, Drew went to the big car that Addie and Nick had only just recently purchased. Since she handed him the keys, he put his bag in the back of it with the other two pieces of luggage and got in the driver’s seat. Just as he was ready to start it up to go, his cell phone rang. It was Nick. “Thank you for doing this for me.” He told him it was no problem, he was glad to help out. “She’s really stressed out about this. If she…this woman, I guess she’s really bad off. I had a couple of the guys here go and check on her, and Addie is going to be devastated when she sees her. I guess they were right in saying she might not make it.” “Addie told me that the secretary said that they didn’t expect her to make it past the first night. Perhaps her hanging on this way, it’s a good sign.” Addie got in the back with Vinnie. It was darker back there, because even though it was nearly dark, the sun still burned Vinnie a little. Being a vampire had some difficult rules attached to it. “The little girl’s parents, should I be looking for them there? I mean, they might want to hang out with their daughter for a little while.” “I never thought of that. But I would keep a look out for them. I don’t know what sort of people they were alive, but we both know that things change when they figure out they’re dead. The little girl is deep in a coma, but I’m not sure if it’s drug induced or just from all the injuries. She is only alive because of Addie’s friend, I guess. They have her head cam and it shows pretty much everything that happened to the two of them when they went over the falls.” Drew wondered if Addie would want to see that, and thought she might be better off not. It had to be pretty horrific. “Anyway, I want you to call me if you need anything. Steele got you guys a nice hotel, and I guess Vinnie has a place she can stay while out there too. There is the woman’s house too. There is a dog; I’m not sure what it is, but he’ll need some looking over too. I can’t thank you guys enough for helping me out.” “I’m glad to have something to do, to be honest.” He put the phone on the holder and stuck his earphones in. One thing he did not do was drive and hold onto his phone at the same time. He wouldn’t even answer it until he pulled over to do so. Drew might not like his life overly much, but he’d not take out others just to end his. “Is there anything else I might need to know out there? I mean for Addie. She’s pretty upset.” “Not that I know of. She’s been talking about this girl for a while now. They’ve met at least once a year since they got out of college. Her family is gone. I think she might only have the people she works with. She owns this company, Extreme. There are several

of them across the United States, so I think she’s done well for herself.” Drew was impressed with that. Not that as a woman she’d done well, but that she wasn’t any older than Addie and was successful. “She’s also somewhat of a loner. Not like you, but pretty close. If she’s not working, then she’s at home. And Addie wanted me to see if you’d take care of the dog. I’m not sure what kind it is, but Sandy, the woman who works for Mac, said he’s all right. Addie didn’t feel right staying at her house. She said it would be too painful.” “I’ll take care of it. And you know I love being alone.” He knew that he’d sounded defensive, but Nick only laughed. “I’ll let you know when we get there. And I’ll take care of the dog too.” “Like I said, I really appreciate this. And should this girl pass, I’ll drop everything here and make it out. I’ve already made some arrangements with Steele.” Drew told him he’d replace him. “Thanks for doing this for me. For us. Hopefully it will turn out all right for everyone.” In Drew’s experience it rarely turned out well. Most of the time, if it could go to shit for him, it did. He closed out the connection and drove them to the airport. Everything was set, and they were up in the air within twenty minutes of getting everything stowed away. Drew thought about what he had now compared to what he’d had as a kid. Since working for Steele and the rest he had a car, credit cards for company trips, and a home. Money enough to spend should he do so carefully. Clothing enough that he was warm when needed. A television that didn’t only work when it wanted to, and enough food in the house that he was never hungry unless he wanted to be. Shirts and pants, dressy when needed or casual when working, were also provided. His personal items—socks, shoes, and other items such as underwear and tee’s—were his own to buy, and he rarely spent much on those. And now, thanks to Landon and his wife, he had a house bigger than he needed, and servants too. He still wasn’t sure what to do with all that, but it was his, and no one else’s. Closing his eyes for the trip, Drew felt himself drift off. As his body relaxed his mind became fertile. His mother was just there, memories of her fighting with his need to vanquish her from his mind. As he drifted deeper into sleep, his mother was welcoming him to her horror. “Do you have any idea how much I despise you right now?” The ten year old Drew whimpered. “Shut up. Just shut up. If I could afford it, I’d end you right now and be done with you.” He never answered her; to speak to her when she was stoned, as she had been, would have been bad. To have done so would have given her another reason to hurt him. And she did enough of that without his help. Instead, he sat there on the floor with his towel under his body, so the blood from his latest injuries wouldn’t ruin the carpet beneath him. His mother wanted to make sure they made a good impression when the welfare people came by to check on him. They did it less and less as he had gotten older, and he doubted very much that any of them cared what sort of state the house was in so long as he was there and still breathing.

She didn’t love him. He’d figured that out long ago. And even if he hadn’t figured it out, it wouldn’t have mattered. She told him almost hourly how much she despised him. He was her means to get what she wanted, whatever that was. Her anger at him was legendary. But this time, she was madder than he’d ever seen her. And getting angrier by the second. He was sure she’d broken his nose. His jaw, on a previous beating, had been bruised badly, but not broken. Now it was painful to move, even if he did want to speak to her. Drew looked at her when she screamed his name. “Pay attention to me, you moron. Or so help me, I’m going to teach you a lesson you won’t ever forget. No one will look at you with pity again, by God.” She had hit him then, his arms tied above his head to her canopy bed. Pain made him sick, dizzy even, as he had no way of getting down. Not until she let him, cutting at the ropes until he just simply dropped to the floor. Drew had hung there before, more times than he wanted to remember. She would tie him there, beat him over a couple of days, then let him down, telling him how it had been his fault that she’d been driven to beat him. Again. As he had drifted off, his entire being worn out, his adult mind tried to tell him to get away, to run, to hide. But it did him no good; what was to come was coming no matter what he did now, even if he could have gotten away. “Drew?” His name, said so softly, startled him. The dream, the memory really, had him in its clutches tightly, and he knew she was coming for him. As soon as he was touched, a small hand to his shoulder, Drew fought, lashed out at whoever was trying to hurt him. When he realized that he’d been dreaming and that his mother wasn’t there, Drew knew that he’d made a major mistake. Staring down at the face under him, Drew tried to think what had happened. How Vinnie had a bloodied mouth, her lip already swelling. Her hands were above her head, palms out. She didn’t move, said nothing as they lay there. It was the voice behind him that had him knowing he’d fucked up, and had done something terrible. He was going to have to explain what he’d done, as if he even knew how to. “Drew, are you okay?” Was he? No. And would never be if he didn’t get over this fear of his mother. “Drew, please answer me and let Vinnie breathe. I’m scared that you’re hurting her.” His hands were curled around her throat. The bruising there was already making itself known to him. Letting go, his fingers loosening even as the grip of the memories did, he felt his heart twist, and his mind begin to work. Fear slid over him as a shirt did when he was fresh from his shower. “I’m so sorry.” Sliding his heavier body off hers, he lay there, curling his body into a fetal position and trying to wrap his mind around what he had just done. “I had a bad dream. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I’m very sorry.” “Who is she?” He thought of his mother when Vinnie asked him the question. He wasn’t even aware he’d answered her aloud until she spoke again. “Is your mother dead,

Drew? Does she haunt you even now? Is she the person that you were thinking about when you came into the living room today?” “It was her. She never leaves me alone. But yes, she’s dead. And does she haunt me?” He laughed bitterly, knowing that he would have to tell her in order to make up for what he’d done. “Every waking moment of my life, even when I’m not asleep.” Drew didn’t know how long he lay there. He knew that they had landed, the vibration of the engines running now gone. The women spoke quietly, but still he didn’t move. The need to get up, run, and hide had him fighting for some sort of control over himself. After a while, when he knew he couldn’t put it off any longer, he sat up and stared at them. Not sure what he needed to say, he opened his mouth, hoping for something brilliant, when Addie spoke first. “It’s really late, so Vinnie will be with me now. Why don’t you go to the house, Mac’s house, and see to her puppy and rest? I heard you tell Nick you’d help with that. Then in the morning, you can bring me breakfast and hang out with me. Okay?” Drew nodded and waited for either of them to ask questions. When they both stood and went to the exit, he let out a long breath. He didn’t think he was off the hook, but he did buy himself some much needed time. Taking a cab to the address given to him by Addie, Drew knew a new kind of fear. They knew he was haunted, and worse yet, by whom. He wondered what they were going to tell the others, knowing that they would. Drew also wondered which one of them would call him first and tell him he was fucking nuts.

Anthony Bentley Legacy Release Day 10/31/16

October 31, 2016October 31, 2016 Kathi BartonLeave a comment

Coleen had heard just about all she wanted to hear from her grandmother about the Bentleys—no one could be that nice. There had to be an angle there somewhere. People just didn’t help other people for nothing—not in this day and age.

Tony Bentley wasn’t expecting to find his mate, and as a Were Panther he could even understand her reluctance. He was, after all, a Bentley, and the poor woman had been taken through the ringer, but she was his mate, and he wasn’t about to take no for an answer.

Coleen’s ex had left her in a heap of debt, and she couldn’t allow herself to bring that kind of baggage into a relationship. She’d work through it somehow—without the help of the mighty Bentleys.

B&N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1125006975?ean=2940157135782

Amazon USA https://www.amazon.com/Anthony-Bentley-Legacy-Paranormal-Romance-ebook/dp/B01MDPGGOV/ref=sr_1_1_twi_kin_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1477311140&sr=8-1&keywords=anthony++by+kathi+s+barton

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Micah Bentley is a third generation cop and a panther. He always wanted to be a homicide detective like his dad, but kept getting passed up for the job because he was too good at what he currently did working the beat. Micah has a gift, he can read people’s minds. Such a gift could be a help and a hindrance on a job. He could pluck the information he needs right out of someone’s mind, but knowing they’re guilty and proving it are two different things. But when his dad is killed off duty it has him rethinking his career choice.

Regina Webster, Reggie to her friends, is just trying to make ends meet by working three jobs to keep her head above water, and also take care of her invalid brother. She doesn’t have time for socializing with bossy men like Micah Bentley who butt into her life making everything concerning her his business. She doesn’t know anything about this mate thing he keeps spouting off about, she just wants him to leave her alone.

Due to a random act of violence, she finds herself suddenly homeless: no home, no money, no car and suffering from a gunshot wound to boot. Reggie has no choice but to accept a helping hand from the Bentleys at―least until she can get back on her feet.

Trouble has Reggie marked, and this time they take Micah’s mom too. Micah knows they’re in trouble, but when the bad guys don’t go where they’re expected it’s a race against the clock…

Christiana McKenzie, Chris to her friends, was at her wits end. She and her sister, Angel, were born witches. Their mother had warned them that to use their powers would bring on another witch hunt, and they’d risk being burned, just like their ancestors. Her sister didn’t heed their mother’s warning and now Angel was dead. Angel had lived long enough to tell Chris that she’d left something for her with a man by the name of Bentley, then she died. Chris had to track down this Bentley no matter the cost….
Joseph Bentley almost had everything finished: the house, the barn…everything. In a few weeks it would be finished and he would be able to move into the house and get the ranch going. But the progress wasn’t going fast enough to suit him―he was lonely.
Micah had come out to tell him that the sister of the girl that died to protect him was coming to see him, and he was hoping that the nightmares since the incident would stop. Micah wanted him to come out to the main house and be there when she arrived. But the limo delivered the woman to Joey’s house instead of Micah’s. Joey couldn’t believe it, the hostile woman was his mate…and more than he could have ever hoped for….
Whether or not Chris wanted a mate or not was irrelevant, Joey wasn’t letting her out of his sight. And when she found out that her mother had lied to her―she wasn’t an ordinary witch―and that others would come to try to possess her. If they couldn’t do that, then they would kill her to possess her powers―she needed help.
The Bentleys ban together to save one of their own, but will it be enough? Can they even fight the powerful magic that’s targeting Chris and Joey?

Nolan finally had a practice of his own, and soon his brother Burke would be leaving the hospital and joining him. Now, if the rest of the family would mind their own business, Nolan would be much happier…or not. He was sulking over his dilemma when his nurse told him he had a patient, a hurt kid who wasn’t doing much talking.

Rylee nearly collapsed with worry when she found out her nephew had been hurt. She wasn’t sure if she was cut out to be a parent. She loved her nephew, Shane, dearly and had taken on his care when her sister died, but how she’d missed the warning signs was beyond her. He was being bullied at school daily and she knew nothing about it until he’d been cut with a knife.
“I didn’t know.” Her entire body sagged at her confession. “He said he had it handled. And I thought he did. It’s my fault he’s beaten up like this. I should have…I’m not any good at this parenting thing.”

Nolan reached for her just as Shane moved on the bed. He wasn’t sure what the kid could do, banged up the way that he was, but as soon as Nolan touched her, he knew what she was to him. Her body, warm and strong, leaned into his even as he buried his nose into her neck. Christ, his body screamed at him, she was his. Licking her throat, tasting her, he could hear her moan, but when his head was jerked up by his hair, all he could do was stare at her.

THE BENTLEY LEGACY

1. MICAH – http://smarturl.it/micah

2. JOSEPH – http://smarturl.it/josephBentleyLegacy

3. NOLAN – http://smarturl.it/nolanBentleyLegacy

4. BURKE – http://smarturl.it/burkeBentleyLegacy

5. ANTHONY – http://smarturl.it/anthonyBentleyLegacy

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Meet Kathi Barton, author of best selling novels such as the Force of Nature series and Ryland of the Golden Streak series. She lives in Nashport, Ohio with her husband Paul Barton, an amazing and talented potter. Kathi likes to spend time with her eight grandchildren. she writes to relax and have fun. Also, she and Paul can be found at auctions in the summer months.

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Coleen signed her name to the last page and closed the thick file that had been handed to her. The man across from her, Harry Mercer, hadn’t been a bastard; he could have been, but he was nice to her. She thought that might have hurt most of all. When he asked her if she had any questions, she wanted to ask him why her, but she knew he’d have no more answers to that than she did. “No. I’m going to go live with my grandma, try to get my life together and get a job. They’re taking most of my money, so I’ll have to live very frugally until I win the lottery.” She meant it as a joke but it failed miserably, much as her life had. “How can I make arrangements to pay you back?” “I told you, I’ve made an arrangement with the firm I work for, and this will be a probono case. You have enough to worry about right now, Ms. Greer. And don’t forget, you have to have whomever you work for contact us so that we can make arrangements for the money to come here. And then we’ll disperse the payments that we’ve lined out for you. You’ll be all right. How about we go and celebrate that this is going to be behind you soon?” She told him she just wanted to get out of town. “When do you leave? Not right away, I hope.” “Today. I’ve had to sell my house and my things, so I don’t have anything left here. Grandma has room for me for the time being, and she’ll need help with my brother’s little girl.” She smiled when she thought of the little tike. “She’s a handful, Grandma said. Sweet, but a little energetic for a seventy-year-old to handle.” “I bet she is.” Coleen realized that she was taking up this man’s time, and he’d given her a lot over the last few weeks. “Coleen, are you going to be all right? I know that you didn’t cause any of this, but the law is the law. I think we’re lucky that I was handed this information rather than some other firm. They might have taken you to the cleaners. If you have any questions now or later, just call me. No other lawyer is going to be able to answer them like I can.” “I understand. I thought we were divorced. Apparently I should have looked better at the paperwork he sent me back.” The man nodded and smiled. She didn’t think this was funny, but he might have just been thinking how sad she was. “Thank you so much. You’ve been very kind. I’m not…it’s been a long time since someone has gone out of their way to be nice to me.” As she left the big building, she did wonder what she was going to do now. Her car was loaded with her entire life. And she had just enough money in her purse to pay for gas and as little food as she could eat to get to her next landing spot. Micky hadn’t been a bastard when they’d been married, but this had simply come out of nowhere. The man had been a fruitcake, sure, but she’d never have thought him to have had the brains to have pulled this shit. And now that he was dead, she couldn’t go and find out what he’d been thinking. No one had said a word about the divorce paperwork. She hadn’t thought a thing about it until she’d been summoned to the courthouse under the guise of being the only

living relative to one Mick Greer. When she’d produced copies of the divorce papers that she’d filed to show that she had nothing to do with his debt, they had produced the paperwork that had been filed at the courthouse. It had been fake; nothing about it even made sense. It looked as if Micky had rambled on for several pages about a baseball game that he’d bet on, then about the house that he’d wanted to buy with the money had he won. No one had checked it at the courthouse when she’d taken it to be filed, and she was still legally married. For as much as she found that hard to believe, it was the debt that he’d run up in her name that had floored her. She had no cell phone…the service had been cut off days ago. There wasn’t any way for her to call Grandma and let her know she was coming either. Her money would have to last her the week it would take her to drive there. And calling her would be too costly. So Coleen got into her car and started her trip. Why she had married Micky was a mystery to her. She had been working in Vegas at the time as a dealer, trying to save up her money, and had woken up not only married to the man who had bothered her all night, but also in a house that wasn’t hers…as well as naked. When she tried to get away from him, she realized that she was trapped. Quite literally. He’d cuffed her to the bed. His plan, he’d told her, was to marry her—well, any dealer—and have them stack the tables in his favor. When she’d told him she couldn’t and wouldn’t do that, he’d slapped her, and did so repeatedly over the next several days. When she finally was able to get away from him, he’d tracked her down and told her again what she needed to do for him, and when she’d refused this time, he ended up sending her to the emergency room. Coleen spent the next four weeks hiding and being hurt. It wasn’t until she was able to get to the station house and press charges that she was able to get the divorce started. It had taken her another year and a half to get him to sign the papers. Then seven months later he was dead. She had figured out at some point he was a little off. He’d had lists of things that he wanted her to do for him. One of them was to rob a bank, and another had been for her to run in the Miss Universe pageant. It took her an hour to make him understand that by marrying her, he’d fucked that up. She was no longer single. Micky wasn’t a bad man, just not very smart. That’s why this entire thing with the bills had surprised her. Turning up the radio to drown out her thoughts, she tried to think at what point she’d become such an idiot. Coleen had gone to college, graduated with honors with a culinary degree, and had been on her way to making a name for herself. She only worked part time at the casino to make some extra money for herself to buy her first home. Then after she’d gotten that, she’d wanted a newer car. That had never happened, along with a lot of other plans that she’d had. All because she’d been the fancy, as he’d called her, to a man that had no idea what he was up to most of the time. And now he’d ruined her from the grave without giving her any idea why he’d done it. Coleen wasn’t sure if she’d really been his fancy or someone that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. But it was the only reason she could come up with for him marrying her. She oftentimes wondered if he’d drugged her too. Not even the chapel that she’d supposedly gone to could believe it when she’d been brought in. The man who

ran the place, an Elvis impersonator, had told her she had seemed intoxicated and not really into her new husband. There were no recordings of the nuptials, and the marriage had been filed correctly. Coleen wondered, not for the first time, if things would ever go her way. “I’ll never trust another man, that’s for sure.” She looked at the radio when it just popped twice and went out. “See? Can’t even trust a fucking car.” Coleen drove until she was simply too tired to go on. Pulling into a rest area, she made her way to the bathroom with her things and cleaned up. It was the best she could do, she knew that; but she still would love to have had a nice deep tub with a million bubbles. After brushing her teeth, she made her way back to her car to sleep for a few hours. At the rate she was going, she was going to need to be hosed off outside when she got to Ohio before her grandma would allow her into the house. As soon as she closed her eyes, the tears started. They were useless, she knew that. As much as she hated to shed them, there was just no stopping them these days. She wasn’t depressed, but really sad. How had things come to this? It was a question that she had no answer for. Coleen wasn’t even sure there was one. For the next fifteen years, more if she didn’t get a job soon, the law firm would be taking more than half of what she made. It didn’t matter if there were tips involved; she’d have to declare a percentage of whatever the check would be even if she didn’t make that much in tips to cover it. Micky had put her in debt for over a hundred and fifty-three thousand dollars. Lucky for her, or them, they only wanted to collect half. Like she had twenty-six thousand dollars just laying around. “And let’s not forget the funeral costs. The fucking bastard even stuck me for that.” Why he’d needed the best of everything was beyond her, but Harry had shown her what the bill had come to, as well as a prearrangement form that he’d filled out at some point. That was another thing that surprised her. Micky had seemed to live in the now, not ever thinking of the future. Who was going to give a shit if he was in an oak casket with silk trim when he was in the dirt? That was another twenty-three thousand dollars, because he’d decided that instead of just calling hours like a normal person would have, he wanted a wake, with steak and lobster served to his mourners. Had Coleen had any idea she would have put a stop to it. But at the time she thought she wasn’t his wife and was not responsible for his bill. Selling her home and cashing in all her money had only paid a few bills. The rest, every charge card that he’d forged her name to, every charge that he’d put to every store along the strip, was now something that she’d be paying forever, it would seem. All because she was pretty, he’d said. As the sun was coming up on yet another fucked up day, she gathered her things and went to the bathroom to clean up again. Coleen got a soda from the vending machine, and looked longingly at the overpriced candy bars there. Turning her back on them, she went to her car and started out again. Her plan was to eat only at lunch, and then at a buffet. It was cheating, she knew, taking carry out at those kinds of restaurants, but it might be the only way she could eat decently for the next week.

It was going to be a very long week too. And she’d be on the road for Christmas, which was only a few days away. Crying again as she started out, she realized that she needed to get a grip on herself. She wasn’t a whiney person, had never been one to let people walk all over her, but she was as stressed as she’d ever been, and felt like the weight of the world was around her neck. Coleen just wanted one or two things to go her way. She thought even that was too much to ask. ~~~ “Christmas is in three days. Are you ready for it?” Tony wasn’t sure how he was supposed to be ready when all he had to do was show up with some gifts and be cheerful, but he nodded at Micah. “Did you even decorate your house?” “I just moved in about an hour ago, so no, I’ve not decorated. And since it’s just me living there, I don’t really care to go to the trouble of putting up a tree by myself and then having the job of taking it down again.” Micah nodded and Tony realized he was distracted. “Did you get the elephant that I sent you? I also managed to snag a snake or two. They should arrive by courier sometime on Christmas morning. I think Reggie will love it, don’t you?” “Yes, yes. What did you get for Grandma and Grandda? Did you get the luggage set that I told you about?” Tony thought this was just too much fun. He told him he’d gotten them four sets. And that he’d made sure they were the ugliest colors that the store had had. “And did you wrap them or have them wrapped? I want this to be perfect.” “It’s going to fail. All of it is going down the tubes with you right at the end of it. They’re going to be calling the holiday fucked up day rather than Christmas after this, all because you failed.” Micah looked at him as if he’d just found out he was there. “Are you back now? If you’re going to berate me about something, the least you can do is pay attention to me.” “It’s the girls’ first Christmas, and we just heard that the little boy that we were going to take for the holidays might come to us permanently. His parents just don’t want him.” Tony told him congratulations, but he still wasn’t sure that Micah was paying attention to him. “How can someone just say, ‘I don’t want a part of my body’ like that? I mean, it’s their child. Created by them with passion. I just don’t understand how anyone can do that. She was leaving the hospital and said she wasn’t going to take him at all.” “The child will be better off with you guys anyway…you know that as well as I do. And he’ll be loved, not just by you but all of us.” Micah nodded. “What’s really eating at you? You’re acting like a man who is going to the gallows, not getting ready for the best time of the year.” Micah didn’t look as if he was going to answer, but Tony could wait him out. Something was bothering him, and until he got some help with it, he was going to stew himself into being sick. Tony had been doing that a lot himself lately…worrying about shit he had no control over. “Before I forget to tell you, Bethany and Amanda said to tell you that they’re going to join us for Christmas Eve dinner. That was really great of Reggie to invite them.” Micah nodded and said he liked them both. “Did you get her anything? Amanda, I mean?”

“I did. I’m sure all of us did. She’s come right into our hearts like she belonged there. Her dad is going to get to come back early too. Hardship discharge. Reggie is swinging it for him. And he’s going to be honorably discharged too. Don’t tell them, it’s a surprise to them all.” Tony knew that it was hard on the elderly woman raising a little girl. He’d been talking to Bethany a lot lately. The woman was really worried about her granddaughter too, the one coming home soon. “Did you get the cell phone delivered to Coleen, her granddaughter, like you said you were going to?” “Yes. We have no idea where she might be, but I had one sent to each of the bigger cities along the route she told Bethany she was taking. They’ll use them for something if they don’t find her, but they’re watching for her. I have a friend that is supposed to give her some cash, and I’ve reimbursed him for taking it to all the places where the phones are. I don’t know if the police will find her, but hopefully she’ll hook up with them and not break down on some secondary road. I can’t imagine going on a trip that far without some sort of way to contact people.” Micah said had he known, they could have sent the plane for her. “Yeah, I thought of that too. Hopefully she’ll be able to contact Bethany soon and she’ll feel better. Now tell me what has you all twisted up. It’s not just this little boy either.” Bethany had shared with him how broke her granddaughter was. And why. Her exhusband had done a number on her. She’d had to sell her home and everything of value that she’d owned, and it still hadn’t been enough. Even the cell phone had cost much more than Coleen could handle at the moment. But when she arrived, if she did, there was not just a place for her to live, but a job too if she wanted it. The news that she had some cooking experience had made Elroy Baker jump right on hiring her, sight unseen. He just hoped the man wasn’t taking on more than he could handle with this girl. Tony didn’t much care for the new chef, and thought him a lush. “I’ve been worried over Mom.” Tony asked him what had been going on with Mom. “She’s doing too much. I think she might be spreading herself too thin, and I’m worried that she’ll get sick.” “I think she’s happy working at Faerie Tales and Dreams, don’t you?” Micah said she was but that was not what he meant. “Then I don’t understand why you’d think she’s overworking herself.” “She also works at the shelter, at the school, as well as helping us out with the girls when she’s here. Did you know that she and Grandma had a fight the other day?” Tony said that he’d been unpacking and not heard. “Grandma wanted Mom to slow down and to take it easy. I guess they were working on the Christmas thing for the pack when Mom just keeled over. Grandma said it scared her to death. Mom insisted she was fine, but Grandma was too worried to let it go and made a big deal out of it, and Mom blew up at her. I asked Mom about it and she got angry with me too.” “You have Chris or one of the others look?” Micah shook his head. “I’d be talking to someone who can have a look without Mom knowing. I know that it’s underhanded, but it worries me too that she fell over. Was she hurt or anything?” “No, she just said she was tired and got a little dizzy. I know that we’re all immortal, but that doesn’t lessen the fact that she’s our mom and not well.” Tony agreed. “I was

wondering, since you’re almost the baby and all, if you’d go and talk to her. She likes you a great deal more than she does me right now.” “Oh, so you want me thrown under the Mom bus. I see how you are.” Micah said he was worried. “I am too, but what if she takes all my gifts back? I saw my name on a lot of those packages under that tree. I’d love to be strong enough to open them.” “I’ll make sure you get them.” They both laughed. “So you’ll do it? You’ll talk to her and find out what’s going on for us?” “Yes, I will…but you owe me.” Micah told him anything. “You might not think that’s such a good idea when I figure out what it might be.” “To know that Mom is only tired and not sick, I’ll do it. Even dance naked in the streets if that is what you want.” Tony thought that had some merit to it, but only smiled. “Christ, you have no idea how much better this has made me feel already.” “She might just tell me to fuck off too.” Micah said he didn’t think she would. “Why? Because you think she has some sort of different love for me? I’m pretty sure that she loves us all equally.” “She does, but you’re her baby boy. Well, second baby boy. She has special feelings for you on that score.” Tony told him he was full of shit. “That too.” When he left for his new home, he thought about his mom. She was the best, always there for them, and kept them straight. Any of them could go to her for anything and she’d tell them not what they wanted to hear, but what they needed to hear about whatever problem they had. Tony decided to go and see her, just to see if she was really doing all right. He pulled up in front of Faeries Tales and Dreams, where he knew she’d be; or would be soon enough. The nursery/greenhouse was busy. He’d known it would be even before it had opened. Being the week before Christmas and a new place in town, people were coming in to see what sort of things they might be able to get last minute. His mom was at the cash register ringing out a woman who had two carts full of things. He kissed his mom on the cheek and started to wrap the pretty little ornaments in the tissue paper on the counter. “Maybeth, you remember my boy, Tony. Tony, this is Sarah’s mom. She just came in to see if we had any more of the furniture for the gardens.” Tony thought it looked like she might have cleaned them out, she had so many of them. “I was just telling her about the summer items we have coming in. You going to put any pots on your porch?” “I don’t know right now.” He started to tell her just what he’d told Micah, he’d just moved in, but he looked at her face. She was making a sale and he was fucking it up for her. “Yes. I want to get them, but I’m not sure how many right now. I’ve got a big wrap around porch that I think can hold about two dozen; don’t you think, Mom?” “Oh yes, and around your back deck too.” He nodded, not sure what went on a back deck that didn’t go on the front, but she smiled at him. “You should see his home, Maybeth. It’s a beautiful sight to behold. I’m hoping that he’ll have some decorations up for next Christmas; we have so many here to choose from.” He looked around. The place looked like a grocery store when a big storm was going to hit. The shelves were a little bare; the trees that had been decorated were devoid of

much more than a few items. The shelves for the faerie items, a huge hit for the nursery, were mostly empty as well; even the displays had been picked clean. He looked again at the cart that his mom had yet to empty. The woman had spent a great deal of money here, and his mom had been responsible for it, he knew it. After Maybeth left with a promise of being called when the new shipments came in, he hugged his mom. “You came here just to give me a hug?” He told her of course. “Yes, well, pull the other leg. I’m not buying it. Which one sent you, Micah or Reggie? Or was it your grandma? I’m sort of upset with her too.” He sat on the counter and smiled at her. “Spill it, young man, I’m too busy to mess with you.” “You have no idea what my house looks like, because every time I want you to come out, you’re off on some project. And when I invited you to lunch yesterday, you didn’t show.” She told him she’d forgotten, but had been busy. “Yes, I’m beginning to see that you’re really busy. With other people.” “Don’t try that guilt on me. I have a life too. Or I’m trying to make me one. So what if I fell over? It’s not that big of a deal. I’m sure you have as well at some point lately.” He told her that he’d not fallen since he was a baby, and she knew it. “I’m just trying to be helpful to Pip and her new venture.” “Micah wanted me to come and see what’s up. I think he thought I’d come here, talk to you a bit, and you’d just tell me. You won’t, so I’m not even going to try that way. But I am going to find out what’s going on. And you are not trying to help Pip. You’re avoiding things, and I want to know why.” He could see her temper rising, but he didn’t let it get to him. She was his mom and like the rest, he was worried about her. “Mom, that’s not going to work with me and you know it. You can bluster and be pissy all you want, but I’m going to know why you’re avoiding us and getting sicker by the day for overworking yourself.” “Micah and Joey have their families all set. Nolan and Rylee get along so well that I’m not sure that they even finish a sentence when they’re together. Burke loves his new job and his mate, as it should be. He takes such good care that she’s happy and not depressed all the time, and I love him all the more for it. Garth is out making money hand over fist. You have a new home that is all complete and not in need of a mother’s touch. Even your grandparents have their own things going on. Howie has his own business ventures going on. Since the nursery opened Katie has been in more flower clubs than I knew existed. And here I stand, all by myself, feeling like I’ve missed the boat somewhere along the line.” He told her he loved her very much. “And I love all of you, but I miss your father.” That surprised him. His dad had been gone almost twenty-two years, and she was now missing him? Tony knew there was more, a lot more, but he stood up and hugged her to him. “My home needs you very much. I have the things I want in it, but it feels cold and lonely. It’s why I wanted you to come out. I have boxes everywhere, but I don’t want to unpack. I feel lonely too.” He lifted his mom’s chin up and looked at her. “Why are you missing Dad so much right now, Mom?”

“He would be so happy with all that you boys are doing. He’d be helping with decorations in the yard like he used to do. There would be menus going around, things that you boys like the most, and how we were going to incorporate them into the meal. The grandchildren would be spoiled with gifts; not that I haven’t done that, but I find myself thinking of him with each purchase and it saddens me.” Tony felt his own sadness take him a little. “I’m trying to keep busy so that it doesn’t hurt so much that I feel like a fifth wheel right now.” “Oh, Mom, you are anything but a fifth wheel. You hold us together; you have always held us together. Dad would be so proud of you.” She wiped at his tears and hers. “Mom, I love you so much. I don’t know what I’d do without you in my life. And that being said, I need for you to take a break, come to my house, and show me how to put a lap blanket on the back of my couch so that it looks homey, not staged. How to put my canisters on the counter so that they don’t look like I stood across the room and tossed them there. And for the love of all that is holy, can you please tell me what I’m supposed to do with five bedrooms, and a living room that looks like I could host a thousand people in it?” “Oh, my dear boy, you are the very best.” He told her that he knew that. “I’m sorry. I guess I should tell everyone else that I’m sorry too.” “Nah, let them stew around about it for a while. But I really think you should take it easy. Not quit working, because I know how much fun you’re having, but come back to us. We need you to.” She nodded. “And since I know there is someone here that can take over for you, why don’t you come out to my house, have some dinner, and help me out? I hate the way my house feels so cold.” “You just need a woman’s touch.” He nodded. “I’m sorry, baby. I truly am. But I’ll help you out. No telling when you might find the right girl.” He had to tell her, soon he knew, that his own mate had died. As she went back to find someone to take over for her, he looked around again and had to smile. The trees were already redecorated and the shelves looked as full as they’d been on opening day. Magic could really make a place look good, he thought. He wondered what it would look like when spring rolled around. Christ, this place would be beautiful.

Scott: Calhoun Men Release Blitz & Giveaway 10/17/16

October 17, 2016October 17, 2016 Kathi BartonLeave a comment

Chloe Davis was giving up. She thought for sure the owners of the computer shop she worked for were responsible for her father’s death, but in all the time she’d worked there she’d not been able to find enough evidence to prove it, so as far as she was concerned she was out of there. Her boss, George, on the other hand had other ideas. As far as he was concerned she wasn’t going anywhere…by force if necessary.

Scott Calhoun was just trying to help his grandfather get the young woman to safety, the last thing he expected was for her to be his mate. And he wasn’t happy about it either. Scott was a Dom, and he liked his sex hard and rough and his women submissive…this woman was a spitfire, and he was pretty sure he’d scare her off with his demands…. As far as he was concerned he was a deviant, not mate material.

But when Chloe and Scott come together, they both find more than they expected…Scott has finally met his match. Now, if everyone would stop trying to kill them, they might live long enough to enjoy each other.

www.smarturl.it/scottCalhounMen

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Scott-Calhoun-Men-Erotic-Paranormal-Shifter-ebook/dp/B01M2UVNBO/ref=sr_1_10_twi_kin_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1476140393&sr=8-10&keywords=Kathi+s+barton

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Johanna, better known as Joe, had been a day walker for her only friend, Noah, for centuries. An immortal with eight hundred years under her belt, she had become proficient in several languages and occupations. When her friend Noah talked about meeting the sun, she had every intention of following in his path.

Joe had only gone to the Calhoun’s office to catch a ride to the estate. When she entered, it took her breath away to see the younger man on the floor and no one doing a damn thing to help him.

Trent Calhoun had forgotten how to have fun. Diving into his work was what kept him happy. At 33 he had no life, so when he had a heart attack, his doctor said to change his ways or else.

When the gorgeous woman stumbled into his hospital room, Trent thought his dad was up to his old tricks again?that was until he caught her scent…. Now, because of his wolf, he’s face to face with an angry vampire….

Noelle was in somewhat of a pickle. She had researched the Calhoun firm?Elijah Calhoun in particular?before she made the appointment, but she was having second and third thoughts about hiring the firm after she got there. All her research indicated she could trust them, but big men scared the hell out of her, and the place was full of them.

Elijah had been running a tad late for work, so his brother Trent took his first appointment. Elijah never dreamed that the woman he had an appointment with was his future mate…and she needed his protection.

Noelle’s stepfather wasn’t their only problem. Elijah’s brother Sterling’s nightmares had gotten worse and somehow the creature that had marked him was controlling his actions as well…no one was safe….

CALHOUN MEN SERIES –

1. Trent – http://smarturl.it/trentCalhounMen

2. Elijah – http://smarturl.it/elijahCalhounMen

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“I don’t think I understand what you’re telling me.” Chloe wasn’t mad, but she was

pretty frustrated. This training session was taking much longer than it should have. If the

man would only listen to her, she knew he’d get it. “You’re saying that all I have to do is

keep putting a little screw in the back of each of these here things, and that’s it? All the

time? That don’t seem like a job at all. I think a monkey could do it.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell him that monkeys could do it, with a great fewer

questions too. But instead, she nodded at him and told him to get to work. If he did it or

not, she really didn’t care anymore. Today was her freedom day.

Chloe Davis had given her notice over eight weeks ago. She’d only meant to give

them two weeks, but the owner of the little computer shop had begged her to stay on for

another month. Well, begged wasn’t really the term she might have used. He sort of

tricked her into it with fat tears. So she had stayed. And then two more weeks, then two

more after that. So now today was her last day. She was not going to extend her notice

again. Whatever she had hoped to find there was either hidden better than her skills

could ferret out or it wasn’t there. She needed to move on before she made herself crazy

with hunting.

She’d been working in this place since she’d left her other job, when she’d figured

out they were as crooked as the people they were arresting. But it had been here. Her

fellow officers hadn’t bothered to hunt down here. None of them cared, it seemed, that

her dad had been murdered by the people working in this little dive of a computer shop.

And she was worn out. The trip, the one her and her dad had been planning when he’d

been killed, was something she needed to do now so she could get a fresh start.

The trip had been something that she’d been saving for since she’d read about the

cruise in the paper. Her and her dad would have four weeks of travel, a whole month for

just the two of them. Sometimes in a plane, others on a ship. They were to see Europe and

every other country on the list of things they wanted to do. Now he was gone and she

was going to do it in his honor. And she was going to fucking enjoy it, if that was possible

now.

Glancing at the clock, she was surprised to see that it was just after five. Time to leave.

Chloe wasn’t going to miss this place nor the people that worked here. The turnover was

so huge, she’d stopped trying to make friends with the staff. Two weeks; that was about

how long any of them lasted once they figured out they were working for a failing

company. She was here only to find information, which she’d failed at as well.

Yesterday she’d taken all her personal things home with her. There hadn’t been all

that much. No pictures graced her desk like they did for the few people she worked with.

There had been a little bouquet of artificial flowers, a little box that had been a birthday

gift, and a blotter pad. She had pens that she’d bought over the years—most of them were

cheap anyway—and a calendar.

It was old, out of date by six years. But it had special meaning to her. Her dad had

given it to her, his last gift to her before he’d been murdered on the job. He’d written

something for her on every day of it, even beyond the date that he’d passed away, leaving

her alone in the world.

“There you are. I bet you can’t wait for the weekend. Me either. To have no reason to

get up until Monday morning will be a thrill.” Chloe said nothing to her boss, George

Flynn, as she gathered her purse and the last two things that were on her desk. “I guess

you have plans for the weekend. Before coming back on Monday.”

“I’m not.” He asked her what she was doing then. “Oh, I’m going to sleep in. Not

much however; I have things to get done all day on Saturday. But I’m not returning on

Monday. I told you, several times this week, that today was my last day. I even wrote

you a note, reminding you that today was it for me. I’m not coming back on Monday or

any other day. I’m done.”

“I can’t let you go. You can’t just up and leave me like this. No, no this can’t be right.

You said you’d give me two weeks. I need those two weeks. I’ve not told my dad yet that

you said you might not be staying. You have to give me those two weeks. Come on,

Chloe, you know that you’re the only one that does anything around here. Even I don’t

do as much as you do.” She told him that she’d given him eight weeks and she wasn’t

extending it again. “I can’t let you go, Chloe. I really can’t. This place needs you here.

You’re the only reason that we’re still alive. My dad will be pretty upset if I let one of his

best employees go without any kind of notice.”

“As I’ve told you, several times, I’ve given you my notice that I’m leaving this week.

Today, it’s my last day. I’m done with this place.” As she moved by him, he grabbed her

arm. It hurt, but she looked him in the eye, and he just shook his head when she asked

him to let her go. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I’m done here, George. I’ve

worked out my notice more than I should have, and I want you to let me go.”

His hand came out quickly, striking her across the face before she could think to back

off. And when she hit the back of her head on the desk behind her when she fell, Chloe

felt sick to her stomach, the pain was so bad. But she was more upset that he’d hit her for

leaving when it was scheduled.

George pulled her back up, never loosening his grip on her arm. “Look what you

made me do, Chloe. And I can’t let you go. I never told anyone that you gave your notice,

so see, it’s fine. You can come back on Monday and no one has to know that you were

leaving. You can’t anyway. I want you to stay here. My dad will too. Once he finds out

that you’re carrying this company all on your own. He said that we have to stay in

business. That it’s imperative that we never close our doors for any reason. So he’ll be

thrilled to know that, you know, I was able to make you stay. And I’m going to. I need

you to stay here. I can’t keep this place open without you being here.”

She jerked from him and felt her skin burn in pain. Something was wrong with him,

she thought. And he was dangerous too. Chloe had noticed over the last several weeks

that he’d been coming into working later and later and then leaving early. And he was

acting strangely. She was pretty sure that he was stoned about all the time now; she’d

seen enough of it on the job to know what it looked like.

“You’ll have to learn to live with disappointment. I certainly have. Now, I gave you

my notice and I’m leaving.” Standing up, she made her way to the door, afraid now for

the first time since she started working here. She spoke to George over her shoulder,

keeping her distance from him in the event he tried to hit her again. “I have held up my

end of the bargain and I’m leaving here. Today.”

Going down the elevator to the lower level, she held onto her things like a lifeline.

This place had gotten stranger and stranger, and she was glad to be quit of them. But as

soon as the doors opened, she knew she was fucked. Security was there when she got out

of the doors.

Chloe wasn’t sure what they thought they were going to do, but she tried to hand the

first one her badge and he wouldn’t take it. This was surreal. She was leaving and they

were barring her from it. It wasn’t like she was running off; she’d given her notice. She

wanted to scream at them.

Taking out her phone, only meaning to take their pictures, she flinched when the man

to her left knocked it out of her hand and crushed it under his boot. Chloe was terrified

now and wasn’t sure what she was going to do. Normally she was armed, as she had a

concealed weapon permit, but she’d left it at home today. Then the door behind the

security team opened and a tall elderly man came in and looked at her. For some reason

she thought that this man alone could take all the security team alone, but she also didn’t

want him to get hurt.

He was holding one of their bags, a large one that had the name of the company,

Flynn Ark Computers, blazed on the side. She’d bet anything he was bringing it back

because it no longer worked. Which was, sadly, par for the course of this place.

He looked at her, then at the men, and asked her if she was all right. One of the

security team drew out his gun and had it pointed down at his side. This shit was getting

too real. But she was desperate and needed to leave.

“No, they won’t let me leave. They’re detaining me from going home for the day. I

hate to say this, but I need your help. George Flynn, the man behind me, has already hurt

me by slapping me. Please, can you help me?” The elderly man just stared at her, then he

moved away.

She just knew that no one was going to help her, and she wasn’t even sure what was

going on. Then the elderly man came back, his arms now free of the computer bag he’d

had in his hand. He stood there, his arms across his chest as he sort of rocked back on his

feet.

“I haven’t a clue what the devil is going on here, but that little lady there said you

hurt her. Is that right? ‘Cause I’m thinking she wants to leave here.” George started

talking behind her. How he needed her to stay. “I don’t care a little bit that you want her

to stay. The thing is, she don’t want to. And in my book, that trumps what you want. You

and your men, you back on up now, and me and her will get ourselves out of here.”

“You can’t just come in here and take one of my employees. I tried to explain to her

that she can’t go, and she just won’t listen. Now you just go on and toddle away and we’ll

get this fixed. She’ll want to stay here when I explain it to her.” The elderly man only

cocked a brow at George. “She needs to work here. I want her to. I don’t know why she’d

even want to leave here in the first place. Just because I let her give me that paper saying

she was leaving doesn’t mean that I have to let her go. This might be a crappy job, but

my dad said I have to keep the doors open, and if she’s not here taking up my slack, then

we’ll be out of business.”

He wiped at his nose, something that he’d done several times while standing there.

When he came away with blood on his hand, he pulled out a hand towel and wiped it

away. The strip of cloth was nearly covered with blood, both fresh and dried. The elderly

man snorted and then laughed.

“Well, sir, she don’t seem to think so, and if she wants to go then I think you’d better

let her. In fact, I’m gonna have to insist on it. You just don’t treat women the way you are.

They’re too precious for that to be going on.” He told her to come to him and she did, as

far as she could before the armed guard stopped her. “You just back off, boy, and we’ll

just be going about our business.”

“Look here, old man, I don’t think you heard me well. I told her that I’d let her go

when I had enough people that knew her job. Nobody knows her job as well as she does.

And it’s hard to replace her. Not that I tried all that much, but she can’t just leave me in

a lurch like this. My dad will be pissed.” The nice gentleman told her again to come along

with him and they worked their way to the door. “You’re not leaving here, Chloe. I told

you, you’re going to work for me. And you damned well will until I say differently. I’m

in enough trouble with my daddy as it is.”

Rocket, one of the security team, stepped in front of them when they were right in

front of the door. The low growl coming from the older man startled her, but she held on

tight to his hand when he took hers. The man was going to get hurt because of her, and

she was worried about that. When Rocket backed away, his head down, Chloe thought

they’d be free when two more men came at them. They were going to die, she thought.

Just because she’d given her notice like a good employee. The elderly man laughed a little

and she looked at him.

“You see them men out there?” She looked outside of the building through the big

glass door and nodded. “You go on out there with them and when you’re safe, I’m gonna

kick me some bottom in here as soon as I get me some reinforcements.” She looked at the

nice man and put her hand on his shoulder. He wasn’t going to get killed because of her,

damn it.

“Just come out with me. Those men, they look like they could keep us safe. Come out

with me.” He just gave her a little shove and she ran into something hard. She looked up

into the face of one of the men that had been standing outside. “They’re going to hurt

him. Please, make him come out with me.”

“Grandda?” The elderly man said he had this. “Maybe so, but she’s afraid, and if you

get your ass handed to you, I’m going to have to kill these men. And then Grandma is

going to eat you and us alive for letting you get hurt. Don’t you think this would go a lot

better if you just come with us? I do.”

“She’s always been a party pooper, your grandma. You know that, don’t you? But

they were about to kidnap this here girl. She asked me for help. Not you and them others,

but me. And I’m just chivalrous enough to want to help her. This here man, he’s trying

to say she is gonna do something she don’t wanna. That ain’t right in any book and you

know it.” He turned from George to look at the man that held her gently by her arms.

“You thinking I can’t handle these young men here? You might be right. I don’t think

they’re gonna play fairly anyways. That’s why I asked you to come on in and help me

out.”

George tried to take her from the man holding her. He didn’t get the chance before

the man behind her not only growled like the other had, but grabbed George’s hand and

twisted it. George went to the floor like he’d been tossed there, and didn’t look like he

was going to be getting up any time soon. She hated to be glad at someone else’s pain,

but he’d slapped her first, and she had a feeling that he’d have done a lot worse had these

men not come to help. George started shouting almost the moment he touched the floor.

“You mother fucker. I don’t know what’s going on here or why you resorted to

violence against me, and frankly, I don’t really care. But she isn’t leaving. I told her, over

and over, that I need her here. Chloe is the only one that does her job and does it well. If

I let her leave, then my dad is going to be very upset with me. She has to understand that

I cannot be in any more trouble with him. He’ll cut me off, and I need that money.”

George cried out when the man jerked his wrist again. “That fucking hurt, you bastard.

Come on, Chloe. You just go back and retract your notice and then I’ll see you on Monday,

just like normal. Then we’ll talk about how you’re going to make it up to me for this man

hurting me. If you don’t, then I’m not sure what’s going to happen to your last check.

You know that I can hold it.”

“Chloe, is it?” She nodded at the man behind her. “My name is Trent Calhoun. That’s

my grandda, Trent Calhoun the third; he goes by James. Those other men, the ones out

there waiting on us, are my brothers. Not that you need to know who they are right this

moment, but you can trust them. And if you’d be so kind as to go out to them, I’d really

appreciate it. Grandda and I have to talk to these men about respecting other people’s

wishes.”

“They’ll hurt you.” Trent stretched his neck and she heard it pop. Looking at George

now, she shook her head. No, she thought, they’d hurt George, and right now, she didn’t

care as much as she might have at one time. “These men will hurt you, I think. And after

this, I really could care less if they did. I’m not sure where all this came from, but I

wouldn’t work here now if you gave me a million dollars. You’re a prick.”

She heard the older man, James, laugh, and she turned to the door again. The guards

there didn’t look like they were going to move, but she saw the door open and two of the

men from outside were there with her. The guards, seemingly as a single unit, moved

back out of their way. While not outnumbered or outgunned, they were certainly out

smarted and out muscled. The Calhoun brothers were frigging huge in comparison, and

she thought more dangerous even unarmed. Chloe looked back at George and his men.

Turning when one of the brothers said her name, she looked into his eyes that seemed

bright with humor.

“He wants you to come with us.” Chloe had no idea why but she was willing to go

with these men, anywhere so long as it wasn’t here. Not just because George was being

so weird and scary, but she had a feeling that they’d not harm her. Moving out onto the

sidewalk, she let out a breath that she’d been holding. The younger of the two men spoke

again. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

Nodding then shaking her head, Chloe frowned when the man laughed. Pulling her

sweater sleeve above her wrist, she showed him her arm. The bruise there was huge

already, and a perfect imprint of a hand. It sort of made her sick to her stomach to know

that someone would hurt her like this over a job. When the police showed up, she looked

up at the man who had asked after her injuries.

“They had to be called in. He was trying to detain you. And while you did get away,

we have to cover our own butts so as not to get sued for helping you. Besides, I’m pretty

sure that my grandda was going to hurt one of them. He cannot stand the unjust, as he

calls it.” She thanked him and he smiled at her. “You’re not going to like the fact that

you’re going to have to go to the hospital, are you?”

“I’m fine.” He shook his head. “No, really, I’ve been bruised before. This is no big

deal. I just don’t understand what came over him. For the last few weeks, he’s been…well,

he’s been off his rocker, I guess.”

“I’d say that you’ve got that about right. But you’re going to be safe now, so don’t

worry too much over it. But I have to insist that you head on over to the emergency room.

That way you have a record of what was done to you and why we had to step in.” She

tried to tell him she was fine. “Fine or not, you need to have someone look at that. What

if it’s sprained really badly?”

In the end not only did she end up at the hospital, but the men, all four of them,

stayed with her. She hadn’t felt this protected since her daddy had died. George had

sprained her arm. The bruising would go away and she’d heal, but she just didn’t

understand what had come over him.

~~~

James sat in the lobby and watched the comings and goings of the people. There were

all manner of sickness and hurts coming in. The nurses and staff were doing their best,

but there just weren’t enough of them to go around. When the seat next to him moved,

he looked over at Scott.

“They send you here to bust me up too?” Scott told him it was called busting his

chops, but no, he’d just come by. “That man, he was hurting that girl. Scared her some

too, I think. He just wasn’t gonna let her go without a fight.”

“Trent said that he was high. No excuse, mind you, but that can affect a person’s

thinking. Also, I had Joe make a few calls. Flynn’s dad is on the way to the station to see

his son. I guess William Flynn, his father, is on some of the boards that you’re on around

town. Flynn the senior has been putting his son in some rehab places for a few years now,

and it’s never taken. Or whatever they call it. Joe said she’d let us know what goes on

down there. In addition, and this is just my opinion, I think there is more to this than him

wanting her to retract her notice. Trent said he was rabid about it almost. Do you know

William?” James nodded and looked at his grandson. “I’m fine, Grandda. I promise you.”

Yesterday when they’d been working in the shop, Scott had just dropped to the floor.

James had never been so terrified in his entire life. And when Scott finally came around,

he’d made him sit on the floor for another hour before he’d let him stand. James thought

for sure he’d lost his grandson.

“You been to see that quack?” Scott told him he had an appointment tomorrow. “You

should go on up to that desk and tell them what you told me. That ain’t right and you

know it.”

“I’m just exhausted. I’ve not been eating as well as I should; the house is coming

along nicely now and I’ve been putting in too many hours. I really need to hire me a cook

and someone to clean up after me all the time.” It didn’t make him feel any better about

his grandson, but James thought that might help some. “Grandda, I promise you, I’m just

tired.”

“Why? What are you not telling me? Something happening you don’t want to share

with me? Hell boy, I done told you everything about me.” Scott said he knew, too much.

“Well, I want you to know me inside and out. Now that we’re going to live forever.”

“You still pissed about that? What are you going to think when those great

grandbabies come along? That you sure wish you didn’t have immortality?” James glared

at Scott. “Don’t give me that shit. You know as well as I do that you’re going to be walking

that little girl down the aisle and acting as if you invented living forever.”

“Ever tell you that I don’t like you much?” Scott laughed and James felt it all the way

to his heart. “You gonna find you a mate and forget about your old grandda. That’s

what’s got me so tied up.”

“You know better than that. You are my world. And any woman that comes into my

life is going to have to know that.” Scott looked around the lobby of the hospital much

like James had. “They’re understaffed here. Trent said he was going to try and get some

of the younger pack to go to college to be nurses and doctors. Not only that, but whatever

they want to do. We have set up different scholarships for them. He’s also setting up a

clinic for the pack.”

“I heard tell that man that’s coming in with his new business, he’s moving here too.

That’ll sure help with the money flow around here. He’s been buying up a few of the

properties about and helping turn them into shops and such. I heard tell that he’s having

some issues out there in the building department. You know anything about that?” Scott

nodded and told him it was permit issues, but he thought Joe was handling that. “I sure

hope so. He’s gonna bring this town back to its former self if he keeps that up. I guess the

land out there, it’s been cleared of everything, and they’ve started on the construction of

his plant.”

“The men and women working on the construction are applying to work in the plant

once it’s up and running. At first it won’t be as many jobs as we need, but Doug said that

within a year he’ll have over a thousand jobs to fill here. And I guess Joe is working on

another guy to come out and put a plant in.” James was right proud of his grandchildren.

And loved the women that they’d been mated to as much as if they were his own.

“Grandda, is that the doctor?”

They both stood up when a man in a white lab coat came toward them. Trent had

gone home, telling them that he’d see them later. Both Sterl and Elijah had left as well,

telling him that they’d be around should he need them. James had been dealing with

pricks like the one in that place even before these kids had been born. And now they were

treating him like he was some kid. He was a grown man, damn it.

“Miss Davis is getting dressed now. She has a sprained wrist that we’ve wrapped up.

And there is some tearing to her skin that I’m not worried about, but it is painful to her.

The bruising will fade after some time, but she’ll need to be watched for a while, I think.

She’s a little shaken up by this.” James said he’d be too if a man he worked for hurt him.

“Yes, about that. Mr. Flynn has called here and said we were to detain her. I guess he’s

thinking that somehow what happened is all her fault. This is with the backing of his

security team too, I guess. Whatever that little shit told his daddy, he is bringing the

police. If I were you, I’d not wait around for them.”

“Damn it all to hell and back. When?” The doc said they had about twenty minutes.

“Well, that rules out walking out, trying to get her going all gentle like. They’ll be coming

with their lights and sirens running for sure now. You willing to help us spring her?”

“Yes. I have also taken pictures of her injuries, had her write out her statement with

a witness, and have given her copies of everything.” James and Scott made their way to

the curtained area as the doctor continued. “She’s aware of the police coming and why. I

also suggested to her that she needs to leave with the two of you. Her home will be

watched as well, so they’ll head there next if I don’t miss my bet. I don’t know what sort

of burr he has up his butt about her, but I don’t think I’d wait around to find out.”

Scott said he’d get the car. James wasn’t sure what he was gonna do with a pretty

little thing, but he’d sure keep her safe. Nobody should be afraid to leave their job, not

like she’d been. Chloe came around the curtain just as he was reaching for it. She looked

so upset that he felt his wolf run along his skin needing to protect her.

“I don’t know what to do. I didn’t do anything and now the police are coming. And

I know them well enough to know that they’re going to hurt me worse than George did.

What the hell is going on around here when a person can’t just quit their job without pain

and suffering?” Grandda told her he didn’t know and that he had it. “Yes, I’m sure you

do, Mr. Calhoun, but this man is after me. And while I’m afraid, there isn’t any reason

for you to be involved any more. I can handle him.”

“They’re coming here to arrest you, or worse, like you said. That boy of his, he sure

enough told a tale that will get you into trouble, if I don’t know any better. And when

they do get here, there might be a lot more bloodshed than they think if they try and take

you against your will…or mine, for that matter. Men like William Flynn, they get what

they want simply because they think they can. I don’t cotton to that, no ma’am, I do not.”

James knew William well enough to know that he was a bastard and a bad man to do

business with. And to his way of thinking, the apple never fell far from the tree. “You

come on with us and we’ll put you up proper like. Then when we figure out what the

heck is going on with them, we’ll help you get yourself settled again. All right?”

“I don’t know why he’s doing this to me. I gave him my notice, and even worked

past it to help out. But I have plans. Damn it, I never did a thing wrong while I was there.

I even, against my better judgment, tried to help him out by trying to train a few of the

people I worked with on how to keep the place running.” He gave her a gentle nudge

toward the front of the lobby and she went with him. “What is wrong with people

nowadays? My dad would have kicked his ass for treating an employee like that.”

“Your daddy need to be called?” Chloe told him he’d been murdered. “I’m sorry,

darling, I am. But we’re going to have to get our feet moving here.”

He saw them before they saw him and Chloe. James pushed her into a curtained area

and told her to be still. As the police moved by him, he reached for Scott and told him

there was a change of plans, and to meet them at the back entrance. Pulling Chloe along

when the police moved down the hall, they nearly ran out of the department.

By the time they were nearly out of the hospital, his heart was going a mile a minute.

He wasn’t worried about the police or the other men, but he was excited. He’d not had

this much fun in years. Well, not all of it was fun, but he was enjoying himself a bit too

much. He wasn’t worried about the girl getting hurt, but he was worried about the police.

They could be a little off at times. Jasmine touched his mind just as Scott was pulling the

truck up in front of them.

You old poop, what are you doing now? He told her as he opened the door to leave the

hospital. Trent said that that man hurt that girl. Is she all right? You bring her here. I’ll help you

take care of her.

She’s not a puppy, Jas. She’s a full grown woman. He laughed because he’d been thinking

the same thing. I’m gonna bring her there. She’s got nowhere else to go for now. That dumb butt

done went and called the police on her. He told her he’d be there soon, that Scott was there

with the truck now.

James got in once the girl was in the back seat. He looked over at Scott when he’d not

moved. Saying his name got him nothing, so he snapped his fingers in front of his face.

Scott looked at him with the most pained look, and James felt his fear for his grandson

double.

“Son?” He shook his head. “Come on now, what is it? You hurting? Scott? Tell me.

What is it?”

“Nothing.” He started the truck but James put his hand over his before he was able

to shift. “Grandda, this is neither the time nor the place for this. The police are coming

now. And…and I’d appreciate it if you’d just leave it alone for a moment.”

“Hell no, I’m not going to do any such thing. You tell me what ails you or we’re going

to sit right here until them police come out here and arrest us all.” Scott looked at him

again and James felt a moment of fear. Scott’s wolf was moving along his skin like he was

ready to do some terrible business. “Scott?”

“She’s my mate.” James was so shocked by the confession that he leaned back in the

seat and looked at them both. The girl was his mate? That pretty little thing was Scott’s

mate? As they drove out of the parking lot and onto the road, he started laughing. That,

of course, pissed off his grandson.

“You gotta admit, this is just perfect.” Scott asked him why. “Well, she needs some

protecting, and there ain’t no better man in the world for the job than you. Might even

shake your world up a little.”

“Excuse me, what are you talking about?” James looked at Chloe and thought of her

as his granddaughter. “I’m not sure what you think is going on here, but I’m not a mate

to anyone. Not now. Not ever. I have plans.”

“Yeah, well, so did I, but I guess neither of us is getting what we want.” James started

to tell Scott he was going to get more, so much more, when he turned to him. “Don’t. I

don’t want to hear about how my life is better now. How I’m going to be the happiest

man in the world. I’m not, so let it go.”

James held his tongue, the hardest thing he’d ever done. He reached out to his Jas

and told her what was going on and what Scott had said. James glanced back at Chloe

and noticed she was just as hard set on this not working as Scott, and told his own mate.

I’d not worry about it, James. They’ll work it out. He told her that the girl had already

been hurt once today. And I’m sure she will be again before this is done. Bring her here like you

wanted and we’ll sort this out.

He wasn’t so sure that there would be any sorting today. And he doubted very much

if Chloe was going to be staying with them. Scott might not be happy about having a

mate, but James knew he’d care for her with his life.

Parker McCullough’s Jamboree Release Blitz & GiveAway 10/3/16

October 3, 2016October 3, 2016 Kathi BartonLeave a comment

Who rescued who was still a little vague, but they escaped just the same. The lab called him SA-8, and they had made him into a very powerful weapon. But to Reese he was just Josh, a boy that could do amazing things, but a boy none the less—not a lab rat. That was two years ago—the lab had been relentless and lethal in their pursuit. With her big rig running on fumes, and their last dime spent, they wound up on a small town in Ohio….

Parker McCullough found an abandoned big rig parked on his land. It had been there a few days, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do about it. Calling the authorities seemed like the logical thing to do, but when he tried to do so, his cell phone went flying from his hand and a teenage boy appeared from nowhere. Parker thought the boy was an Elite Shifter, and after hearing a little of the boy’s story he wanted to help.

Reese didn’t know who all these people were, but if she and Josh didn’t get away from them, the “others” would find them and they’d all be dead, just like all the other people who had tried to help them along the way…. And now the gorgeous shifter, Parker, had her trapped in the kitchen claiming to be her mate…. She didn’t have time for herself, and she didn’t want to see them all die because they’d helped her and Josh—Reese was out of options.

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Chapter 1

Parker walked around the big semi three times before he made his way to the driver’s door again. He glanced over at his dad when he came around the back end of the thing, having just jumped down off the hitch. He was glad now that Dad had come with him today.

“Don’t see nothing to indicate that it’s broke down.” Parker said he didn’t either. “Strange thing though, like you said, there ain’t no scent on it. Like it just appeared here without a driver. Mighty weird.”

“No kidding. I saw it two days ago but thought whatever was going on, they’d have come back for it by now. But nothing. And the door is unlocked.” His dad asked him if he’d been inside. “Yes. Just to look but not enter. There isn’t anything in there either. Like you said, it magically appeared.” Parker pulled out his phone.

“You calling the cops?” Before he could tell his dad he was, something came out of nowhere and knocked him on his ass. His dad was backing from him and whatever it was that had attacked. His phone had been tossed away from him, and just as he was reaching for it, a boy appeared. “Christ love a waddling whale.”

Parker glanced at his dad, wondering not for the first time where the hell he got his little sayings. But he also knew that he’d been frightened too. The boy picked up his phone but didn’t hand it to him.

“I’d rather you didn’t bother with the police. They have a tendency to make matters worse for us. And for the moment, she’s happy.” Parker asked him who. “Reese. We’ve been on the run for a long time and she’s having fun and relaxing. She needs it more than I thought she did. It’s been a while since she’s been able to do that, relax I mean. And we need the money, I’m afraid. The rig, it’s very hard on gas and she’s not getting much in the way of work. More than likely due to the men chasing after us.”

“I see.” The boy looked at his Parker’s dad then put out his hand to help Parker up, but Parker ignored it for now. “This woman, she owns this rig? And if so, why is it on my property?”

“It was the only place we could find so that the men trying to find us didn’t see it. We won’t be here much longer, really. The trees will be turning soon, what with autumn coming. It’ll be more visible then and we can’t stay. You understand.” Parker looked at the hand still offered, then at the boy. “My name is Josh Savage. The Josh part is what I picked out, but the last is what I was given at the lab.”

“Lab?” Josh nodded, shaking his hand at him as if to say, take it. “I’m a bit heavier than I look. If you would just back up a bit, I could get up and we can figure out what we’re going to do about these men chasing you.”

“That would be nice, but it’s doubtful that you could help us much. They’re very determined, you see.” When he put his hand closer, Parker took it. The grip was startling, but it was the immediate connection that shocked him more. The kid was an elite shifter. “I’m not what you think. You’re a jaguar, correct?”

“Yes. Parker McCullough. This is my dad, Rich.” The boy shook his hand then turned to do the same to his dad. He knew the moment that his dad felt the connection as well. “These people, can you tell me why they’re chasing after you?”

“Yes. I can.” But when no more was forthcoming, Parker looked at his dad for help. The boy laughed a little. Parker had no idea, but he thought it sounded sort of sad. “I can tell you but alas, I cannot. Reese, she says that I’m too trusting. I suppose in a way that I am. But since I have all the information I need to know about you and that you’re trustworthy, I feel I can. But I need to ask her first. She is not trusting at all.”

“This Reese…is she in trouble too?” Josh nodded. “And these people that are looking for the two of you, do you suppose they’ll kill you when they find you?”

“Not me. Not right away. They need to take me apart, so to speak. To see what I can do if they use their weapons on me. And if I can be made into a weapon. Which, I assure you, I can. But Reese will die. Immediately if they can work it. She is of no use to them other than to get me to do as they wish.” Parker asked him if he would do that if they had Reese. “I would like to, but she has made me promise that I will not fall prey to their demands. She said that they would do as they pleased with her even after they capture me anyway, and that if I can, I am to take them all out.”

Parker wasn’t sure what to do now. If he called the police, which he knew that he should, then he’d have both their deaths on his head. He had no doubt whatsoever that Josh was telling him the truth in this. He looked at his dad when he started to laugh.

“I’m telling you right now that I think this is gonna end badly. Not for you boys, but for those that are chasing that girl and this one.” Parker asked him how he’d come to that conclusion. “I don’t really know, but I have a feeling now that we’re involved—and we were the second that truck there pulled onto your land—that the rest of us is gonna be working on this. I don’t know how, like I said, but there you go.”

Parker turned to Josh. The kid was smiling at his dad but not saying anything. He didn’t know why, but Parker had a feeling the kid didn’t say much of anything unless asked directly. Parker looked at the semi again and thought of someone finding it.

“I have a barn we can have Reese pull this into. It’ll be safer than it is out here. Also, I don’t know where you’re staying, with her or not, but I have plenty of room at my place that’ll be safer than the truck or wherever you are hiding now.” Josh told him. “Then I’m sure of it. Margaret runs a nice place but it’s not terribly secure. If she doesn’t want to stay at my house, I have a married brother that can put the two of you up as well.”

At least he hoped so. And with these guys coming around, it would be a good thing to have them close to Lauren. She was way more bad assed than any person that he’d ever met. Parker looked at his dad when he cleared his throat.

“Might want to go and see this girl. Just to let her know in person what you have in mind.” He nodded. “And Parker, I’d make this a request, not a demand. Things don’t go well when you boys make demands on women.”

“No, I’d never do that. I do think that the semi going into the barn would be better. But if she has other plans that’s fine too.” He looked at Josh then. “You know where she is?”

“Working. She works for May Roy, at Roy’s Place. Reese cooks for the morning group and sometimes, a lot lately, for the lunch one too. They like her.” His dad laughed. “You’ve tasted her food?”

“I believe that I have. Every morning, as a matter of fact. She’s been there about a week and a half now, correct?” Josh nodded and smiled. “Thought so. May is a wonderful woman and the best bartender you might want to come across. And Margaret is about the sweetest, most ornery woman you’d want to meet. But neither of them could cook a meal and have it come out right if their lives depended on it. Yes, sir, Reese is a fine cook.”

They made their way to his dad’s truck. They’d come out here together to have a look at the tomatoes and corn that he’d planted. His dad wanted to open up a little roadside place to get rid of the stuff he didn’t need, and Parker had brought him out to show him just how much there was. As he put a bushel of tomatoes and corn with some potatoes in the back of the truck, he thought of the young boy.

He wasn’t human, that much was certain. And he’d told him that he wasn’t right in thinking he was an elite shifter either. Parker had no idea what that might mean, nor the part about the lab that he talked about. Why a bunch of men would want anything to do with this kid was beyond him; especially enough to kill for him.

As they loaded into the truck, Josh telling him that he’d meet them there, he watched as he flew away as a beautiful red tailed hawk. His dad said his name quietly as he backed out of the field.

“Look.” They both turned to see a black SUV go by them. It was going pretty fast so he doubted that anyone in the thing had seen the truck, but he worried. “I’m thinking we might want to circle our wagons. There is gonna be trouble if we don’t help them.”

“I agree.” As he reached for his family, he was glad when Lauren said she was in town and would go by the diner to look around. He told her about the boy and the woman; also about the semi that was parked on his land.

I’ll see what I can do about that too. Bear is with me, as well as a few others. We’re here looking around for someplace to have a couple of meets and greets. He was almost afraid to ask her what that meant. I’ll keep an eye on things on this end for you. And Bear is gonna move the vehicle now. The barn unlocked?

Yes. He didn’t ask how Bear was going to move the big rig. There had been no keys in the sucker that he’d seen, and he was pretty sure that, without her knowing them, Reese wasn’t going to hand over the keys to them. Just tell him not to damage anything on the truck or the barn. I have stuff in there for the house that I bought cheap, but I don’t want it damaged.

She was still laughing at him when they pulled up in front of the diner alongside three big black vehicles without any sign of license plates. He could see the men in the cars as he walked by them. Parker felt the hair on his neck dance in fear.

~~~

Reese nearly screamed when someone spoke to her from behind. When she turned, holding the spatula like a weapon, the woman simply took it from her and pointed to the walk-in. Reese started to ask her what the hell she was doing when Josh came in the back room with them.

She’s going to help us. Reese wanted to ask him how and why they might need help when he continued. They’re here. And before you think to run, they’re all around this place. Do as she asks, please. I think she can help us.

She was so afraid that she stood there for a few seconds just staring at the woman. When the woman pulled out a gun and then nodded to the walk-in again, Reese went where she was told, grabbing Josh’s hand as she passed him to take him with her. As soon as the door closed behind them, she looked at her friend.

“What the hell is going on?” He smiled at her but she could see the fear. “How did they find us? We…. The truck. They found the truck, didn’t they?”

“Not that I’m aware of. But a man did find it. He said that he’d take care that it was safe.” She asked him how they were going to do that. “He has a barn. I have been over his property. The barn is sufficient to hide it in. Also, he said that we should stay with him rather than the hotel. I think that might be a better plan. When I came here, they were at the hotel too. May, she was calling the police even as they left her office.”

When the door opened, she had to put her hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. The elderly man standing there smiled at her and asked her to please come with him. Josh started forward and she grabbed him by the arm.

“I don’t know you and I’m not going anywhere with you. That woman out there, she has a gun. While I think that can be a good thing, as I said, I don’t know you.” He nodded and told her that he knew Josh. “How do you know him? Did you call these guys? Did you tell them that I would give him up? I have news for you, you overgrown fucking bastard, I will not go down easily.”

“Good for you. And my family isn’t going to let a thing happen to either of you now.” She started to ask him why but she wasn’t given the chance. “Lauren is talking to those men now. She would like for you two to come to the house with me. She assures me that they’ll not know you’re there. And I’d believe her if I were you. She’s got a way about her that makes grown men sob when she doesn’t get her way. I love her to death, you see, but she scares the bejeebes out of me too.”

“Sob? What the hell is a bejeebe? Never mind, I don’t want to know.” He nodded and that was when she heard talking. Well, shouting might have been a better term. As she made her way out of the walk-in with Josh, she peeked into the dining room where she knew the woman had gone.

Reese could see her back to her and four men down on their knees in front of Lauren. Two men were standing behind the men, one of them with a gun to the bigger guy’s head and the other man holding a knife to the throat of the last guy. Reese wondered what the hell was going on when the woman spoke.

“You see, I don’t really give a fucking good shit what you think you’re going to have done to me. In the event that you might have missed this, I’m holding all the cards right now.” A man spoke then, telling the woman that she was going to pay for this. “Nah, I don’t think so. You can think that all you want, but the only thing I might have to pay for is the mess in this dining room should I have to kill you all. Margaret gets kinda pissy when I make a bloody mess in here. She might even bar me from coming here again. It was pretty messy the last time.”

Margaret huffed and pushed her ample bosom up when she moved to stand behind the woman. She was a large woman, both the sisters were, but Reese thought that the younger, smaller woman looked meaner by a lot.

“Honey, if you break one table in taking care of these fools, I’ll be happy as lemonade on a warm day. They done went and dicked around with our hotel too. Messed up two of the rooms like they owned them. May and me are not gonna be able to rent them out for a time now, and that’s just not right. You have to kill ’em, then you go on ahead and do it.” The woman asked the men if that was true. But Margaret answered for them. “You darned right it’s true. The guest staying there isn’t gonna be a bit happy to find all her things a mess.”

Her things? Reese wanted to know, but the man behind her touched her arm. When she turned to him, she could see fear and something more. Something in his eyes told her that he was afraid for her. When she shook her head at him, turning back to the scene in front of her, Reese had a feeling that the four men weren’t going to get out of there without some heavy fines.

“We’re not paying for shit.” The man behind him popped him in the back of the head with his gun. “You fucking do that again and I’m going to tear you apart. I’m here on official business. That woman, the one that we were telling you about, she’s kidnapped my boss’s son. And he wants him back. You either hand him over, with the woman, or I’m going to call in the troops.”

“Troops? Would that be the army? Or perhaps you might have been thinking of some other branch of the services?” The man told the woman that he’d call who was necessary to finish this peacefully. “I think that boat has done sank, don’t you? Peaceful went out the door the moment you came into my town and messed with my friends. Perhaps later, if you’re still breathing that is, I can show you the meaning of the word. I think there might be a dictionary around I can use. By the way, you can read, can’t you?”

“Yes, I can fucking read, you cunt. You’re going to regret this.” She nodded and pulled out her phone. When whoever on the other end answered, the woman said her name, Lauren McCullough, and that she had a problem here. “You think this is gonna win you points with the boss? I got news for you, bitch, he’ll take you down with that brat and woman.”

“You think? Here, my boss wants a word with you.” She held the phone to his ear and when the man paled, Reese looked at Josh when he laughed. When the woman turned and winked at them, Reese backed from the scene. Something was going on there, something bigger than her and Josh.

As they made their way out the back of the diner, she tried to tell herself that this was going to work out. That the woman in there, whatever boss she had, was going to give her enough time to get out of town with Josh. She had no idea how that was going to happen, but she was going to do it. Then the older man said her name and she looked at him. He did look sad.

“You have nothing left at the hotel, child. Those men destroyed everything in the room. Parker is there now with the police getting things squared away. Also, we’ve had your truck moved to the barn on his place so nobody will notice it. You have to know

that you can’t keep doing this, running like this. Not now.” She nodded. Reese didn’t even have the strength to cry. “You come on home with me and we’ll have my wife make you up a nice dinner and gather you up something more to wear. Parker will be along in a bit and you can go out to his place to stay. He’s a good boy, my Parker.”

“They’re going to figure out where we are and come there too. You might be better off just dropping me off at my truck. Josh and I need to head out of town now while the getting is good.” The man turned the opposite way of her truck and she just sat there. It wasn’t until Josh took her hand and reminded her that the truck was hidden in Parker’s barn that she started to cry. “We’ve had a good run, haven’t we? I’m sorry. So sorry about this.”

“Now you see here. This isn’t done. It might look like the storm has come in and is raining on your party, but those men, they don’t know what they’ve messed with in coming to the McCullough doorstep.” She nodded at the older man. “Chin up there, child. You’re in good hands now. We’ll get the two of you safe.”

“You have no idea how long we’ve been running. And what sort of monsters they are. They just don’t care who they hurt to get us. Josh is all I have.” When Josh said he had to go, she simply rolled down the window and watched him fly away. If the man was shocked, he didn’t say anything. Then something occurred to her. “You spoke to Josh. He told you what was going on, didn’t he?”

“No. Well, yes and no. We talked to him. My son, Parker, the one that’s out there getting things squared away with May, he and I were out looking at the truck you left here. Josh sort of just come out of nowhere at us. Told us a little, that you and him were in trouble, but not why or with who.” She said nothing, not sure how much the man really did know. “So when he told us about the diner, we were headed out that way when those cars flew by us. Josh, he went on ahead to see to you and we come in a little later. My daughter-in-law—that’s Lauren that came in with me—she was already in town with her men and headed in first. She’s scary, that one is. Love her to death, but she can be a mite intense when she’s got herself in a pickle.”

“Yeah, I noticed that too. But we’re broke and down on our luck. I was doing okay for a while, then the runs sort of dried up for us.” He nodded but didn’t question the way of her runs. “Josh isn’t really my nephew. He’s my friend.”

“Didn’t figure that after meeting you. I know that you’re human and he…well, he ain’t. I can see that the two of you are close though. Yes, ma’am. He sure does love you.” She told the man that she loved Josh as well. “My name is Rich McCullough. My missus, Bea, she’s rounding you and the boy up a meal right now. It might be a little cramped at the table with us all, but you just leave that to us. We’ll get you in.”

“You don’t have to do this, Mr. McCullough. We’ll be fine once we’re rolling.” He only told her that she was all right. “I don’t want these men coming here and hurting you guys. It’s our fight.”

“It’s mine too, and that of my family. When you parked on the land out there, you sort of give us the okay to take you in. You’re not going to be with a better family than this one.” She didn’t say anything, knowing that talk was cheap and she was going to be

going as soon as she could get Josh to her. “Josh mentioned a lab, said that’s where the men are coming from. You work there?”

“No, I never worked there. I did deliver things to there for a time, but I never worked there. And after talking with Josh, I’m glad that I never did.” She waited for him to ask her about Josh but he only nodded. “Those men aren’t going to give up. They want him back. And as I said, they’ll go to great lengths to get him.”

“Well, I’m not worried and you shouldn’t be either. It’s not going to happen. Not so long as you’re here with us.” Reese said nothing again. “I’m assuming that Reese is your right name. May called you Anna. Anna Reese. You thinking that was gonna hide you some?”

“I wasn’t sure. I’ve never been on the run before.” Mr. McCullough laughed and said he’d not been either. “I think you should just let this go. As I said, these men aren’t going to give up, and they’ll hurt or kill whoever is in their way.”

“You just leave them to us. We’ll take care of them.” She thought of all the things these men, all of them, had done to people who had helped her. Reese knew that she shouldn’t have stopped to work for the little diner, nor stayed in the small but clean hotel, but she’d been tired and broke. She would have to take better care from now on. “What’s the name of this here lab?”

“Barker Benton Institute of Regeneration. It goes by BBIR.” She looked at the man when she told him the name. It hadn’t been her intention to tell him. In fact, she’d not told a single person she had asked for help what the name was. “You made me tell you.”

“No. I’d like to think I had that much power over someone, but I didn’t. And so you know, I’d not do that to you anyway. You’re worn down and that just slipped out. You’ll see, we’re a good group of people to have in your corner. Lauren, she’s going to have a look-see into them and find out what she can. Her and my son, Colin, they’ll have a whole lot of information before dinner is done, I’m betting. And a way to figure this out too. We got us some pretty powerful people in our neck of the woods now, you wait and see.”

“You mean Lauren’s boss?” He looked at her and nodded. “I’m betting that he’s just another man with a lot of money just waiting to get Josh in his hands. Well, I got news for everyone…over my dead body will he ever go back there and be tested on.”

“I believe you. But when Lauren and Colin sit down with you to talk about this, I’d like for you to have an open mind. Her boss might just surprise you.” Reese doubted it. She had become really jaded over the years on the run. “Here we go. Home sweethome.”